Above: “Leaving Pittsburgh!” (Photo taken Wednesday, July 18, 2012.) Zach Sandy standing with his father and mother in the hallway of West Penn Hospital Burn Center, as they prepare to leave for Morgantown, WV, where Zach will have physical therapy at Health South. Visiting hours there will be from 4:30 to 8:00 pm on weekdays and Noon to 8:30 pm on weekends.
By Bradley Glaspell
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
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One week ago today, I sat and waited to see if Zach would call me. If he was allowed, I was going to pick him up and bring him to camp for the day. At 7:30 he called, and I started a life-changing journey. Around 9:15 I picked up Zach. We were back at camp and in service around 10:30. Bro. Caleb Tisdale preached that morning. In his closing, he directed us to ask for miracles for ourselves, for our family, and for our church. I’d love to know what Zach asked for. I believe he got a miracle for all three.
About Noon the service ended. They were going to have games. Zach offered to be a Glaspell for a day and win some for us. He and Jess went off laughing and saying “brothers for a day.” I went back to my room and took a nap. About 2:00 I decided to get up and go play ball with kids. I walked out to the ball field with everyone, but then decided not to play.
I watched for awhile, but I couldn’t get my boys to play, so I said, “I’m gonna go back to the gym.”
I started to walk away, while texting, when I heard a loud crack of lightning. I jumped and threw my phone. Bro. Colvin and I were laughing because he had seen me throw my phone.
Then a kid ran by and said, “Someone got hit with lightning!”
I said, “Not even funny.”
Then the next kid ran by and said, “It’s true! The little blond-headed kid got hit.”
I thought at first it was Adam, my boy.
Then Jess and my boys came running and said, “It’s Zach!”
I took off running. I saw Caleb Tisdale over Zach. On my way across the field, I saw as he started CPR. For about 10 minutes we prayed and cried, and then cried and prayed some more.
I lay on my belly, hugging Zach’s head, begging God, “Please, no. Please, no.”
Bro. Ralph Tisdale
When I first got to Zach, his body was smoking like he had just come out of an oven. Bro. Nelson and Bro. Workman soon joined us in prayer. After checking several times and finding no pulse, I phoned Bud [Zach’s father, Bro. Russell Sandy]. It was the hardest call I ever made.
After several phone calls, probably 5 to 10 minutes had gone by. Caleb continued CPR until the EMS showed up. [Note: 911 call center records and EMS reports indicate the EMS response time was about 11 minutes or so.] They worked on him for a while out on ground. Then they moved him into the van. I began to walk away, praying and crying. Dad came over hill.
I told him, “Dad, Zach’s dead.”
We drove back down to the EMS vehicle and stood outside as they worked on him.
I heard an EMS paramedic ask, “You wanna call it?”
Another paramedic said, “No, keep working.”
I said, “Oh, Dad, pray. Lay your hands on van and pray.”
We did.
After we called on Jesus, a paramedic jumped out of van and said, “We have a pulse!”
I estimate that Zach had been gone for around 30 minutes.
[Note: All the records and several efforts to account for the series of events back up this estimate, and show it could have been even longer.]The ambulance headed to Camden Clark Hospital. We met them there, and we waited for good news. Wow! What a work God has done since then. Today, one week later, that which was dead is alive and headed to Morgantown and soon home.
I want to share this so that it may raise the faith of God’s people everywhere. I will never tire of telling what God has done.
