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Angels on the Path…

My four children never seem to tire of hearing the story of how God sent angels to save me on my first unintentional bicycle stunt. “Daddy,” they exclaim, “tell us about the time that you were riding your bike with the ‘3Ds’!”

I was about 14 or 15, and I was riding bicycles with some of my childhood friends. The three brothers Dean, David, and Daniel were called the 3Ds by all the children. I had ridden my bicycle to their house, and we decided to ride around the nearby high school, playing Cops and Robbers. I was the Robber, and the 3Ds were the Cops. I raced around the paths surrounding Niles North High School with the trio of Cops in close pursuit.

At one point I glanced behind my left shoulder to see how far they were from me and saw that they seemed to be slowing down for some reason. When I turned my head back, I saw that the path immediately ahead of me was chained off. I had no time to slow, brake or swerve, and my front wheel hit the chain. The forward momentum of my bicycle pivoted the back of my bicycle up, and I found myself being turned, along with my bicycle into a 360° airborne, forward somersault. The bicycle landed with the wheels planting themselves on the other side of the chain. By God’s grace, I was not harmed!

The 3Ds exclaimed incredulously, “Wow, Chan! How did you do that?” I tell my children that God sent His angels to rescue me from certain brain and spinal injuries, if not death. I think that the story has particular fascination to them, because they realize that God must love them too. At some level, they realize how close they were to never being born.

I wish that I could tell you that out of gratitude to God for saving my life and that of my yet unborn progeny, that I had consecrated my life to serving God from that moment forward, but I cannot. I guess that I was so stubborn and dense, that it took several near-misses and another taste of death or disability before I realized that only by seeking God’s will in my life that I could fully realize my potential.

It was my senior year in college. I was attending a school close to my parent’s home in Chicago. I had done very well in my classes, averaging a 4.0 in very challenging classes. My ambition knew no bounds. I was an avid swimmer and diver at that time. Back then, the school apparently did not maintain their pool very well. The water in the pool seemed cloudy at times, and that winter day, it was cloudy. I thought nothing of it. After doing several dives, my head started to ache, and I decided to drive back home. That night I had the worst headache that I have ever experienced in my life. My parents took me to the hospital. The doctors examined me, found nothing remarkable, and sent me home.

It took three more visits to the ER until my left periorbital tissues (around the eye) started to swell to the size of an orange. This time the doctors drew my blood, got a CT scan, and immediately consulted a neurosurgeon. They diagnosed that I had developed meningoencephalitis, periorbital cellulitis, and sepsis. The doctors performed a lumbar puncture and got cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures. They did more blood work each day, it seemed. I was delirious because of the brain infection. The organism causing this was found to be Escherichia coli (or E. coli). The bug had likely entered my eye and brain from the water in the swimming pool. I was placed on intravenous antibiotics. The antibiotics worked on the sepsis and cellulitis, but due to the blood-brain barrier, it was difficult for antibiotics to get to my brain.

Things were looking grim, and my parents were told to expect the worst. They did not give up, but they kept on praying for me, and they called the elders to have me anointed. The whole church started praying for me. I did not want to die, and I bargained with God. My parents wanted me to go to Loma Linda School of Medicine and study to become a physician but I wanted a different career. I told God that if He would heal me, I would follow His plan and go where He led me. Because I am writing this, you know that God heard my prayer and the prayers of my family and church.

It took me 3 years to completely recover from the brain infection and its sequelae. (The school has since made a multimillion dollar modern, hygienic swimming pool, for which I am glad). I finally did graduate, and I applied to only one medical school. Loma Linda interviewed me, and they called me that afternoon and accepted me into the Class of 1994. Needless to say, I could see that God was leading me in the path that He wanted me to follow. I have been working as a physician for over 20 years now. As a physiatrist (a doctor in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation) I now help other people who have had devastating injuries and illnesses such as brain cancers, spinal infections, and major trauma. God has been good to me, and I lift Him up as the only One who can address the problems that we have in life. He is the One who sends Angels on our Path.

Chan Hwang grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He lives with his wife and two youngest daughters in Tacoma, Washington. He and his wife have been married 23 years, and they have four children. Their son is studying biochemistry at University of Washingon. Their eldest daughter is at Andrews University in the Music Pre-medicine Program. Dr. Hwang serves as an elder of the Southcenter Seventh-day Adventist Church in Seattle. His practice is based at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington.