Last evening, I came closer to dying than at any time since serving in a war zone. I’ve been using a very large piece of machinery, almost 30 feet long, to clear brush. The Hydro-Ax is like a large front-end loader or excavator, but with a huge, rotary lawn-mower on the front.
The rotary cutter is about 8 feet wide. The blades are an inch thick. They will cut through an 8″ tree. When the cutter is raised fifteen feet in the air, and brought down over the tree, there is nothing left but the stump and scattered chopped up pieces thrown for dozens of yards around.
Heavy rains had made a low-lying area at the base of a steep hill very slippery. When I couldn’t back out of where I’d gotten, I tried going parallel with the hill, angling slightly uphill to get out of the slippery mire.
After a few minutes of not getting anywhere, I slowly maneuvered the huge machine, about half the length of a school bus, to try another direction. Suddenly, one rear wheel began to rise. The entire machine tipped over on its side, and then rolled another quarter-turn. I was dangling from the seat, held in my by the seat belt, upside down.
The fuel lines broke, putting me in a huge shower of diesel fuel. The one door that worked was jammed shut. By some miracle, the other door, which had been jammed shut for several years, had popped open.
Somehow, without thinking, I was able to get loose, and got onto the roof, now floor, of the machine. I climbed out. Then, I reached back in and got my glasses and The Rosary that had fallen out of my shirt pocket. The Rosary.
Then, I reached through the spewing fuel and shut off one of the spurting lines. Then, I walked the third of a mile to my car, found a blanket in the rear to protect the seat from diesel-dripping clothing, and drove home.
After I left, the huge machine, like a turtle on its back, began to settle as the cab in which I’d been sitting collapsed.
Once I got there, I grabbed a bottle of dish detergent and got into the shower, and got rid of the diesel. The clothing took four trips through the washer and dryer to get somewhat clean.
Today, I am especially grateful to God. He saved me. When the diesel fuel was spraying all over me with broken electrical wires all around, God gave me a very good idea of how painful hell could be.
A few cuts and bruises were all the damage I sustained. Sheer gratitude to God washed through me. It continues to do so.
