73 yr. old Mick and his wife Gale of 40 years, live in Grand Rapids. They have 2 children and 5 grandchildren. Mick is a semi driver who drives from Grand Rapids to Alabama twice a week.
His wife Gale has been employed by State Farm for the past 43 years. We asked how they met, and she said she was checking him out at work!
Their family enjoys racing cars. His son races and his daughter works for a racing company. That is what led them to Daytona for the week.
Mick’s daughter had pit passes to the sprint car race and Mick was a spectator at the Volusia Speedway Park. In turn 2, a car flipped and flew through the fence. Mick and two others were injured.
He was taken to Halifax Hospital where we met up with them on this warm, sunny day. Thankfully, he remembers nothing about the accident. They have been staying at the hospital since the accident happened in February and are eager to leave and get back home.
Mick greets us with a cheerful hello and already has his shoes on. They are bright white and he jokes that he didn’t even have a chance to get them dirty! We can tell he is a jokester.
As he is being transferred from his bed to the stretcher, several nurses stop in to tell him goodbye.
It is just a two mile ride to the airport and we meet Hal who has Nellie fueled and ready to go.
As we begin to pray over him,
I am always in awe of how everyone around us, stops what they are doing and prays with us. Very humbling.
We get Mick loaded into the aircraft and Gale settles in. She has said that she does not like flying and I help her close her curtain on the window and get her headset on.
The noise can get pretty loud on the plane and with the headset, we can talk to each other and listen to music. We ask Mick what he kind of music he would like to hear and he requested the 60’s.I captured a video of him tapping his fingers as we flew home.
The flight time was scheduled for almost 3 1/2 hours. During that time, Mick slept off and on. We all picked through the snack box for our in-flight snack.
We always pack some good stuff! Gale even opened her curtain and looked out the window.
She snapped pictures of the awesome sunset and clouds. It was a beautiful evening to fly. We arrived in Grand Rapids and the transport staff did a great job at loading Mick up quickly. The Rehab Center had his room all ready and waiting for us.
It was already about 8:30 pm, so we bid him goodbye, hugged on Gale and prayed with him again. As we were getting on the elevator, his Dr. showed up, after hours! You know he is in great hands when the Dr. will come in at night when he did not have to!
We returned to the airport and began our short trip back to Indy. At 21,000 feet in the air, the moon is shinning and the city lights were twinkling below. It had been a long day, and we were all exhausted, but I am so grateful for God’s traveling mercies and protection.
Please continue to pray for Mick as he will be in rehab for several more week.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Thank you to Hal, Shelli and Eric for sharing this mission with me.
Gina Barram
JUST PLANE FACTS:
*The inaugural Rolex 24 at Daytona Speedway was just a three-hour, 82 lap race in 1959
* George W. Bush is the only person to have served as the Grand Marshal for both the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400.
* Two full Disneylands would fit inside the 180 acre infield * The Pontiac Trans-Am is the most used car for the pace car.
