Caught by an Angel
Krisellen Lang had lost her first three babies at early stages in her
pregnancies. So when she found herself expecting yet again, it was
hard to work up any enthusiasm. Why should she begin to love this
child when it might never live long enough to be born? But Krisellen's
pregnancy was a result of in vitro fertilization, with four embryos
transferred---and the hope that one would implant. When she went to
her obstetrician for her first checkup and ultra-sound, she discovered
that all four embryos had implanted! "It was as if God was giving me
all my lost children back," she says. The pregnancy proceeded
normally, and her quadruplets, two boys and two girls, were born
robust and healthy.
It was a hectic time, and eventually Krisellen's marriage faltered.
"Our divorce was mutual and amicable, and he is, and always has been,
a wonderful father," Krisellen says. But she was understandably
fearful. How would she raise four children alone? She prayed as she
never had before. God had heard her once, she knew, and brought her
joy after suffering. Would He do so again?
She found a part-time job at a construction company, and her extended
family pitched in to help care for the quads. It seemed as if she
might just make it---until one morning when she stopped at a job site
to measure the rooms in a house. Of course her four three-year-olds
were with her, so she brought them into the house to "help."
One of the rooms had a large hole in the center of the floor.
Krisellen eyed it nervously. Giving daughter Addison one end of the
tape measure, Krisellen directed the other three to stand up against
the wall. They obeyed right away, and Krisellen started for the far
corner. But when she looked back, Addison was dancing on her tippy
toes, a recently-acquired skill. "Addison, stop, you're going to
trip…" Krisellen said, and then screamed. Addison had stumbled and was
falling backwards through the hole!
Krisellen ran to the hole and looked down. Her daughter had fallen
eight feet, and was lying face down on the concrete basement floor.
Addison was completely still. The other children burst into tears.
"Hurry!" Krisellen told them. "We have to get down there!" They rushed
out of the house and clattered down the basement stairs. When they
reached Addison, she still seemed lifeless. But as Krisellen gently
lifted her head, the little girl began to vomit. "Her eyes were
staring off to the side, and I couldn't bear to look at them,"
Krisellen recalls. "So I closed them and held her head so she wouldn't
choke."
Krisellen called for the paramedics on her cellphone, and sent the
other children outside to wait for them. When they arrived, they
fitted Addison with a cervical collar and sped away, as Krisellen
herded the children into her car to follow. Later, the paramedics told
her that her daughter was completely unresponsive all the way to the
hospital.
In the emergency room, Addison was examined, then whisked off for
tests. "Are you sure she landed on her face?” the emergency room
physician asked, puzzled. “Although that’s lucky---since she might be
spared brain damage---she doesn’t seem to have any facial injuries.”
Krisellen would never forget the sight of her unconscious daughter,
face down. And yet Addison had fallen backwards into the hole…
Something else was odd too. When the radiologist came out to give
Krisellen the results of Addison's scans and x-rays, he was baffled.
"There are no signs of any injuries," he told her, “not even a
concussion. She may have some bruising later, and you can give her
Tylenol for that. Otherwise, she's fine. You can take her home now."
Home? Krisellen was stunned. How could her daughter have sustained
such a terrible fall, with no injuries? But here she was, walking down
the hall with a nurse, smiling and chattering, looking
completely...herself. How could this be?
It wasn't until that evening that Krisellen learned the answer. She
and the quads were saying their night prayers together, and they all
thanked God for keeping Addison safe. Krisellen started to get up off
her knees.
"Mommy," Addison looked up. "Aren't we going to thank the angel too?"
"The angel?" Krisellen asked.
"Uh huh. She was with me in the hole," Addison said matter-of-factly.
Krisellen started to cry.
"Don't cry, Mommy,” Addison told her. “The angel was very happy. She
was all sparkly!"
Addison never did develop any bruises, but she did make sure that
everyone she loved heard about her beautiful angel. And when she
eventually moved into another bedroom, Addison asked for angel
wallpaper. (Her sister, Blythe, wanted Barbie.)
Today Krisellen still recalls the event with awe. "I never should have
exposed the children to such danger," she says. "But I think
everything happens for a reason. Perhaps God wanted me to know that I
would never raise the children alone, that He would send all the help
I needed." And she believes.
(C) 2002 Joan Wester
Anderson
www.joanwanderson.com
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