In The Midst Of Tragedy

As many of you that are reading this already know, the first NHRA Division 1 race at Virginia Motorsports Park was marked by tragedy.  Scott Macilvane fell from the tailgate of the crew’s tow vehicle as they were going down the return road to retrieve their T/A Funny Car.  A helicopter was dispatched from the trauma center in Richmond, VA, about fifty miles away.  By the time they arrived at the track, Scott passed away.

A few minutes after the helicopter landed, John Anrika, a T/A Funny Car driver from another team, suffered chest pains and they were able to transport him in Scott’s place to the trauma center.  There they immediately inserted a stent in an artery which saved his life.

Now these are “just the facts and nothing but the facts” as they say.  It reminds me of the Bible; in the books of First and Second Samuel and First and Second Kings we have the facts of the Kings of Israel and Judah.  Yet when one reads the books First and Second Chronicles, we see that it’s not only the retelling of the same time period and kings, but that it’s told from God’s prospective, not man’s. By telling us what went on behind the scenes, in the way of answers to prayer and how God was working even in the most trying of times, we gain better perspective.

As Paul Harvey would say, here is “the rest of the story.”   As Scott lay on the ground, the safety crew went into hyper-drive and immediately requested a helicopter from the trauma center. Try as they might, even with the best of equipment and personal, Scott didn’t live until the chopper arrived.  (Some at his funeral remarked that when your time is up, it’s up. no matter where you are.  The Bible states. “It’s appointed to men once to die,” (Hebrews 9:27a).  That’s one appointment which we will not miss or be late for.)

As the chopper approached their landing and learned that their patient had passed away, they should have returned to the base where they were still on call.  Yet they landed.  Division director Bob Lang asked if they would stay and help, which they should have turned down.  Yet they stayed 

At the same time, unbeknown to all but God, John Anrika was having a heart attack.  The helicopter crew suggested that they take John to the trauma center.  When Claire and I arrived at the center, John’s angioplasty was over and the doctor was saying that he wouldn’t have survived had he been transported by land.

Often we only see the tragedy.  We aren’t aware of the blessing that might be happening at the same time.  We are told in Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  We now see that God knew that Scott was going to pass, but He also knew that we were going to need that helicopter for John.  This is just another reason for us to commit our lives to the Lord, and give Him total control.

                                                                                Dan Laterza