The Day I Didn't Die

Kevin Robertson's Testimony

Let me start with a couple of apologies...

First, I’m certainly not as eloquent of a speaker as Father Steve, so we’ll just have to do the best we can. Second, I really need to let you know where I was physically, and if I’m too descriptive I hopefully won’t offend anyone.

What I’m about to tell you actually comes in three parts. The first is exactly what happened to me in the physical sense. The second is how the people I know and love reacted to my situation, and finally, how both of those led me to the most amazing experience of my life.

On April 13th I went to Boston for a meeting. The meeting was scheduled to last three days. On April 14th. I started to have pains in my left arm and chest. Being in healthcare, I knew the right thing to do was to go to the Hospital, so I did. When I arrived, I was quickly informed that I was having a heart attack. The ironic thing is that was the best news I got that day. The first thing I did was call Kate. I barely remember that call, but I know that it was the most important thing on my mind. I knew that even with all of the doctors taking care of me, getting to Kate was necessary to keep me alive.

The heart attack was labeled as moderate, and was easily manageable. They did an angioplasty and installed a stint. A stint is a little piece of metal designed to basically line the artery and keep it open. We were told that there’s about a five percent chance that these can fail, but the odds are really slim. Well mine did. Not only did it fail, it failed big time! It re-blocked the artery causing a second heart attack. At the same time, however, it tore through my artery and started some pretty extensive internal bleeding! Surgery was inevitable!

They opened me up and tried valiantly to repair the artery, but it wasn’t looking good. They had to give me an awful lot of blood and other fluids to keep my blood pressure up, and tried to put me on blood thinners to keep everything flowing. Now I had fluids moving all through my body, my liver couldn’t keep up, and I immediately gained about 40 pounds, ballooned up, and fell into a coma. At this point, Kate was told that I wasn’t going to make it, and to come to see me and say goodbye. The only problem was that I didn’t die. The hospital also told her that I was far too unstable to be transported to Beth Israel Hospital that was obviously better equipped to handle my case. Soon thereafter they came out and said that they were going to transport me because I was too unstable to stay there. The fact that I didn’t die made them think that if I could survive the transport, Beth Israel would be my only chance. I still didn’t die.

When we got to Beth Israel, I could no longer breathe with the ventilator. The added weight was pressing against my lungs, and the ventilator couldn’t push hard enough to open my lungs. The doctor’s told Kate that they were going to have to open me up and take my internal organs out so that my lungs could expand. Normally, this operation opens you, the doctors look around, identify the problem, and close you again. In my case, they opened me, took out my organs, and left them out for three days. Once again, I was on deathwatch. My family was actually told to start making arrangements, and people were flying in with a funeral on their minds. I still didn’t die.

Let’s stop here for the physical portion. What happened around me was truly amazing. I told you that I knew that getting to Kate was critical. Here’s why. I’m not sure how she did it, but within hours, Father Steve had someone at my bedside praying over me and blessing me. Kate got to Boston, and had a support network going a mile a minute. I’ve recently learned just how widespread the prayers were for me, and I can’t tell you how overwhelming it is. Everywhere, people prayed. Everywhere, people helped, and everywhere, people knew that this wasn’t my time. Kate brought pictures of my children into my room so that if I opened my eyes, I would see what I was fighting for. She also stood by my door and showed the pictures to everyone who came in to care for me and told them that this is what THEY were fighting for.

We had the Jewish community in New York praying, we had churches all across the US praying, and even had the "700 Club" praying for me. The nucleus, however, was right here. The people at Holy Comforter held the key to my survival, and as you can see you didn’t let my kids down.

My company also jumped into the fray. They assigned two people to take care of my family. They stood by with credit cards so that if rooms were needed for my family, they were there; they made sure that everyone ate and got everything they needed. Even when I heard that the only way for me to get back to Texas was by air ambulance and as you can imagine, that wasn’t cheap, My Company said get him home and if anyone needed money, to call them. I received cards from all over. I even got a card telling me that prayers were being said by my son’s saxophone teacher. A man I’ve never met.

My In-laws were handling the kids, my mother and brothers and sisters were in a car headed to Boston, and the PRAYERS DIDN’T STOP! That’s what led to what was happening to me at the time.

You see, in the physical world, I wasn’t there. I found myself in a field, and it wasn’t pretty. Now I’ve seen and heard about near death experiences, and the white lights, and beautiful flowing robes, etc. That wasn’t what happened to me. The field I was in was dark and very scary. There were shadows and dark waves of something that was attacking me. As soon as I would fight one off, another would come to take its place in what seemed an unending battle.

After what seemed eons, I saw our Lord at a distant place in the field. He was standing in a grotto leaning against a wall JUST WATCHING all that was taking place. I went to him, all of the time wondering why He wasn’t helping me, and told Him that I’ve accepted Him as my savior, and was very afraid that I was being destroyed by these demons. He looked at me, and in the calmest voice said "REST". Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled that this was the advice I was getting. I knew that if I just rested, the demons would be able to attack and destroy me with no resistance. What I did, however, was crawl into the grotto, lie down, and rested. I then asked the Lord to destroy the demons. I was very angry and revenge was on my mind. I wanted him to hurt them, and make their pain severe! Once again, he looked at me and said "REST". This time I understood. I RELEASED ALL FEAR, and curled up in the grotto. I HELD ONTO THE ROBE OF OUR LORD AND RESTED. As I watched the demons come forward, Jesus simply waved His hand and dismissed them. He didn’t fight or battle, He just dismissed them!

From that point forward, some pretty amazing things happened in the physical world. When the Doctor’s opened me up to relieve pressure on my lungs, they told Kate that it would take three or four attempts to re-close me after being open for so long. When they tried, however, they were successful on the first attempt. My liver started to process the fluids, and I was obviously coming out of a situation that some pretty smart medical minds thought would never happen. I was going to be all right!

When I talked to Father Steve about what had happened, my biggest question centered on why Jesus was just watching me during my time of need. Father asked me if I had ever truly asked to be saved. My answer came fast and clear. Of course! After reflection, however, something became apparent to me. I’ve said the words, and asked to be saved, but what I was really doing was asking the Lord to accept me. I never really said the words to accept Him. That mistake nearly cost me my life. If it wasn’t for the prayers being said, I’m not sure I would have had the chance to get it right.

Over the past month, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what this all means. What I discovered, is that I really don’t have to know. Maybe I was spared to just raise my children to the best of my ability. I will do that. Maybe it’s something much grander. If so, I’ll be listening to see what’s next.

What I do know are a couple of things. I know that I get to know for a FACT what most people have to believe. I saw and spoke with our Lord. I also know that several of the most brilliant medical minds in the country truly believed that I was going to die. The people at Holy Comforter didn’t! On behalf of myself and my family, I would like to thank each and every one of you for saving my life through your prayers. Every time I look into my children’s eyes, or watch them grow, it will be because of you and your belief in our God who hears and answers prayers! Finally, I will pray everyday that if anyone here finds themselves in that field, the Lord will allow me to stand next to you and fight. I AM NOT AFRAID! I KNOW that the Lord will be with us, and believe me, HE IS POWERFUL! AMEN!