Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! Daniel 3:28
This true story comes from Elizabeth Manū from New Zealand. On the 25th January 2020, Elizabeth and her brother Sou experienced the miraculous protection of God when involved in a near-fatal car accident.
Elizabeth says, ‘I'm so grateful to God for His faithfulness to us every day.’
She also says, ‘Thank you to the first responders; the police officers, firefighters, and paramedics. Thank you to the amazing everyday humans who stop, get out of their cars and run to help others. Thank you to all who stopped to help us. We are so very grateful.’
Elizabeth says, ‘I'm so grateful to God for His faithfulness to us every day.’
She also says, ‘Thank you to the first responders; the police officers, firefighters, and paramedics. Thank you to the amazing everyday humans who stop, get out of their cars and run to help others. Thank you to all who stopped to help us. We are so very grateful.’
One Saturday night, my brother Sou and I were driving on Auckland's north-western motorway. The journey to our friend's house for dinner should only have been a 7-minute drive. But on the way, Sou and I were fishtailed by a driver flying up the motorway doing 150km/h. He hit us and then fled the scene.
Upon impact, Sou and I were immediately propelled into the air. The car landed and rolled, then bounced off the side barrier. This sent our car skidding across the motorway on its roof until we collided again with the median barrier. The car then flipped on its side.
Flying through the air, Sou and I both called out to Jesus. We each felt a protective presence and knew that God was with us whatever the outcome.
Once the car had stopped, I checked for my brother. When I finally figured out where to look for Sou in that scrambled mess, I realised he was staring back at me, grinning. Our seat belts still held us tightly in place. We were alive!
Sou worked quickly to try and extricate me from the vehicle. Some amazing people also stopped to help. With their assistance, I climbed out of my window, which was now where the roof should have been. Sou then did the same.
Although I was bleeding and in shock, I was reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Bible, who were sentenced to death by fire but walked unscathed out of the fiery furnace. With this story in mind, I stared at the queues of cars that were forced to stop and witness the entire event. I wondered what they must have been thinking to see us climb out of the vehicle alive.
No one expected life. Not the passers-by that ran to help, nor the motorway patrol who could not stop telling us and everyone else how lucky we were. All the first responders were in a jovial mood when they realised they did not have to deal with the fatalities they had expected.
We were both so unscathed that Sou had to almost prove he was actually in the car accident once we received medical attention. I sustained hundreds of cuts and abrasions to my body because my side of the car had taken most of the impact. Still, these injuries were not consistent with the accident and the state of the vehicle.
In the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the King who sentenced this trio to death looked into the furnace and saw there were actually four men walking in the fire. The Bible tells us that the Son of God was with them and that all of the men walked out of the furnace alive. I had forgotten that part of the story at the time of the accident.
Lying in my hospital bed the following morning, I read a news article about our crash. This is what it said:
"A witness to the crash, who didn't want to be named, said they pulled over from the fast lane when they saw a car speeding up behind them. The vehicle then hit another car which rolled and ended up on its roof. The driver in the other car didn't stop and fled the scene."
The witness said: "I saw three people get out of the car, and one of them, a lady, was bleeding."
Three people!
I was overcome with emotion when I read the eye-witness account. The witness saw a third person climb out of the vehicle! God is so good!
Upon impact, Sou and I were immediately propelled into the air. The car landed and rolled, then bounced off the side barrier. This sent our car skidding across the motorway on its roof until we collided again with the median barrier. The car then flipped on its side.
Flying through the air, Sou and I both called out to Jesus. We each felt a protective presence and knew that God was with us whatever the outcome.
Once the car had stopped, I checked for my brother. When I finally figured out where to look for Sou in that scrambled mess, I realised he was staring back at me, grinning. Our seat belts still held us tightly in place. We were alive!
Sou worked quickly to try and extricate me from the vehicle. Some amazing people also stopped to help. With their assistance, I climbed out of my window, which was now where the roof should have been. Sou then did the same.
Although I was bleeding and in shock, I was reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Bible, who were sentenced to death by fire but walked unscathed out of the fiery furnace. With this story in mind, I stared at the queues of cars that were forced to stop and witness the entire event. I wondered what they must have been thinking to see us climb out of the vehicle alive.
No one expected life. Not the passers-by that ran to help, nor the motorway patrol who could not stop telling us and everyone else how lucky we were. All the first responders were in a jovial mood when they realised they did not have to deal with the fatalities they had expected.
We were both so unscathed that Sou had to almost prove he was actually in the car accident once we received medical attention. I sustained hundreds of cuts and abrasions to my body because my side of the car had taken most of the impact. Still, these injuries were not consistent with the accident and the state of the vehicle.
In the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the King who sentenced this trio to death looked into the furnace and saw there were actually four men walking in the fire. The Bible tells us that the Son of God was with them and that all of the men walked out of the furnace alive. I had forgotten that part of the story at the time of the accident.
Lying in my hospital bed the following morning, I read a news article about our crash. This is what it said:
"A witness to the crash, who didn't want to be named, said they pulled over from the fast lane when they saw a car speeding up behind them. The vehicle then hit another car which rolled and ended up on its roof. The driver in the other car didn't stop and fled the scene."
The witness said: "I saw three people get out of the car, and one of them, a lady, was bleeding."
Three people!
I was overcome with emotion when I read the eye-witness account. The witness saw a third person climb out of the vehicle! God is so good!
Elizabeth Manū (New Zealand)
The newspaper article can be read here:
'Hit and run accident closes northwestern motorway'
'Hit and run accident closes northwestern motorway'
This was the car after the accident:
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