Danny's Testimony

Let me tell you a story about someone that is very close to me. This is the testimony of someone that learned to triumph over tragedy. This person just happens to be my brother, and his name is Danny Crouse. I pray that his testimony will be a blessing to you.

Danny became a born-again Christian at the age of 20. Prior to this, he had lived a life where he indulged in drugs and alcohol. After he became a Christian, he felt the call of God to preach the gospel. While preaching and evangelizing, he continued to work as a timber cutter. At the age of 23 he decided that he would only work for a few more months before quitting his job and going full time into the ministry. He never got the opportunity to do this. God had other plans for him. Many times I heard my brother speak these words from the pulpit, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." There came a time in his young life when this statement was tested to the very limit. Listen carefully while I tell you his story.

It all began one bright fall day. The leaves on the trees were just beginning to turn colors. September 21, 1977 began as an ordinary workday. Little did Danny know that this day would change the course of his life forever. As he arrived at work that morning, his heart was saddened by the news that his pastor had been killed in an automobile accident the previous night. Danny worked with his best friend Mickey Taylor. Their job that day was to clear a boundary of timber. They had to cut, trim, and drag the trees out of the woods. As they started to walk into the woods, Danny felt an urgent need to go back to his truck. For some inexplicable reason, he felt like a voice was telling him to put on a hard hat. From the age of 14, when he helped his father cut timber, until the age of 23, he rarely wore one. After putting the hat on, he turned once again and headed toward the woods.

The sun streamed through the trees and the birds sang their lovely song. All was peaceful and quiet. Suddenly, there came the roar of a chain saw and the sound of logs being dragged out of the woods. A new day at work had begun. While Mickey used a skidder to drag logs out of the woods, Danny continued cutting timber throughout the morning. After he had trimmed the limbs off a fallen tree, he turned to walk back down the log toward the tree stump. Suddenly, without warning, a huge limb dangling from a nearby tree broke loose. With lightening speed, the limb continued to gain momentum as it fell an estimated 75 feet. Unmindful of the drama that was about to unfold, Danny didn't see the limb as it fell to the ground. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he felt the impact of a limb that weighed 30 to 40 pounds; strike a crushing blow to the top of his head. This had the force of 2,400 pounds of pressure. As if in slow motion, he felt his body lift off the ground as he was knocked 10 to 15 feet into a pile of tangled tree limbs and leaves.

His neck and spinal cord jerked at an awkward angle as he fell to the ground in a dazed stupor. For no known reason the chain saw, that he had been using, shut itself off only moments before it fell across his legs. Still conscious, he realized what had happened. The tree that he had cut down earlier must have knocked this particular limb loose. He suddenly became aware of a numbness that had seeped through his body from his neck down to his toes. When he tried to move, his body would not respond. He knew immediately that he was paralyzed. He knew he had to get help quickly. Weak and in a state of shock, he lost all track of time as he called out his friend's name again and again. Mickey was unable to hear him over the noise from the skidder. Unaware that Danny was injured, he drove the skidder within 2 feet of Danny before he saw him lying on the ground. As Mickey approached, Danny looked up into his horror filled eyes and said, "Don't move me. I'm paralyzed. Go get help!"

It took hours before the various rescue teams were able to cut away the tangled brush and move Danny out of the woods. As he lay on the ground, he just felt thankful to be alive. He never felt the need to question God about why this happened to him. He only knew that God still had a plan for his life. He was taken to Harford Memorial Hospital, but they were unable to help him. They told him there was nothing they could to for him. After that, he was flown to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Unit in Baltimore, Maryland.

For the next six days he wasn't aware of anything or anyone. His life hung in the balance between life and death. Doctors who only gave him a 30% chance to live, began to work on him immediately. His neck was broken at the 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae. His spine was split and knocked at a 90 degree angle, and his spinal cord was severed at C5. He was paralyzed from the neck down.

The doctors drilled four holes into Danny's skull and placed a metal halo around his head to stabilize any movement of his head and neck. The halo had 4 metal bars that extended from the top of the halo to a brace around Danny's chest. He was placed on a canvas striker-frame with a hole cut in the middle for his head. At certain intervals, the entire frame would be turned. The only things that were visible to Danny's eyes were the ceiling and floor. Next, the doctors tried to straighten his spine. They applied 60 pounds of weight to his head and when this failed, they applied 130 pounds of weight before they were able to achieve any results. After that, they had to operate on his spine.

A bone in his neck was crushed and had to be removed and replaced by a bone from his leg. The doctors knew that a lot could go wrong. The slightest movement of the bone that was placed in his neck could kill him. He was in constant danger of going into spinal shock. Through all of this, a hand that was stronger than the doctors' was with Danny.

One morning the doctors came to tell Danny the extent of his injuries. They told him not to be depressed, but he would never walk again. They also wanted him to get counseling. He looked straight into the doctors' eyes and said that he wasn't depressed, and he didn't want counseling. He also told them that he believed he would walk again, if not in this life, then he would walk in Heaven. He had a reason to live. He was going to preach the gospel even if he had to preach from a wheelchair.

He was still blessed with a voice and a brain that wasn't damaged because God spoke to him to wear a hard hat the day of his accident. Danny stayed at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Unit for six weeks and then he was transferred to Good Samaritan Rehabilitation Hospital. He stayed in the hospital for seven months. During this time, the hospital released him to preach a New Year's Eve service. With a voice barely above a whisper and a body so weak that he could hardly sit up, he spoke the oracles of God. He knew that as long as he lived a Christian life, he could fight this battle and win. That was 23 years ago.

There was a period of time that Danny turned his back on God. It was not because he was angry with God or bitter because of his disability, but because he allowed the things of the world to creep in and steal his victory. One day he realized that the peace and joy that he had known as a Christian was no longer there. Like the story of the Prodigal Son in the Bible, he knew he also needed to return to the life that he had once lived. In August of 1996, Danny attended Rev. H. Richard Hall's tent meeting. It was during this service that he repented and turned his life back over to God.

From that point on, he has been preaching and evangelizing. It is people like Danny that can touch the lives of others, and give them the courage to triumph over tragedy. To this day, Danny has never questioned God about his accident. He continues to praise God for bringing him through this trial and he still believes in the healing power of God.

Written by: Sandra Porter E-Mail Address for Danny Crouse: lcrouse@erols.com

I have know Danny and Kathy for all these years. A wonderful anecdote to their testimony is that Kathy found out after the accident that she was expecting for their first child. The Lord knows all things!!!

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