My Experience
One rainy day on March 7, 2007 at 7 o’clock a.m. in my home country, Indonesia, I woke up preparing stuff for my husband that he takes withhim to work. He works in another city and he has to go by airplane. I felt sad in the morning and it is not like I usually feel because my husband has to fly to his office every week. When my husband was ready to go, I asked him to cancel the flight but he said, “No need, I am good” and I saidgood bye. I gave him a leather jacket to wearand half-boot leather shoeswhich I never did before.
He boarded the airplane, but a few minutes later, the airplane crashed into a rice field. The fire was suddenly ragingand my husband jumped from his window but his leg pinched in the airplane wings. He tried to pullup his foot many times. Finally he screamed,“Lord Jesus help me; I don’twant diehere.” He pulledup his foot again and he jumped in the mud.Then suddenly, the air plane exploded. The leather jacket and the boots saved him from the fire, although he suffered 50 percent burns on his body from the airplane crash. His leather jacket save his body and the shoes saved his feet. When I gave the jacket to my husband, he did not wear it, but rather put it in his hand. I took it and asked him to put it on. Then my husband left for the airport. I went to the back yard to sit. While I was sitting, I wondered why he didn’t cancel the flight because I was worried about rain in that morning. I prayed and asked God to protect my husband.
I dropped mychildrenoff at school and I went shopping to the open market with my driver. My husband’s driver called me from the airport, asking me about my husband arrival at the airport. I was surprised because myhusband’s driver never called me since he knows the arrival schedule and my husband already called him the night before. The driver called me again and he said the airplane crashed and burned. I was shocked and I threw my shopping bags and ran to the car and went home. I was crying in the car, I called my relatives to let them know that my husband flew on the airplanethat crashed. I turned on the television at home and saw the news about the airplane crash. Indeed it was shattered and burning. I was crying with my eldest son by my side. That day, my eldest son, Timothy, did not go to school because he was sick. We prayedtogether “Lord, please help my husband.” Suddenly my telephone rang, it was a nurse from the hospital, and she said “Do you believe in Jesus?” I said,“Yes I do believe in Jesus.” She asked me twice and she said your husband is alive but he is burned on 50 percent of his body.
I flew to Yogyakarta, the working place of my husband. I left my children at home with my brother and my maids. At the time my youngest son was still breastfeeding, but I had to go to see my husband. I left my son with tears. I arrived in Yogyakarta at 1:00 p.m. My husband’s driver took me to the hospital. I saw my husband completelycovered with white bandages. Only his eyes were exposed. I was shaking and I didn’t know what to do, but I thanked God that he was still alive. The second day they transferred my husband to another hospital. We stayed in the hospital for two weeks. My husband got an infection and that caused a high fever. The eighth day at 12 noon, the nurse was cleaning all the wounds. Suddenly, my husband shivered violently due to his high fever.The nurse was panicked, andtried to help him but could not. They left me alone in the room. I saw my husband could not breathe and I screamed to my husband “Come on breathe, breathe, in the name of Jesus breath.” I prayed “Lord please help my husband” then I saw hehad opened his mouth and wasbreathing slowly. It happened again in the middle of the night when the doctors were gone. I cried a lot; I did not know what to do. My oldest son also was hospitalized in Jakarta, my hometown. Finally, I talked to the doctor abouttransferring my husband to my hometown for treatment. The doctor didn’t give permission to take my husband to Jakarta. I asked three times with anger, and finally the doctor allowed me to transfer my husband to Jakarta. The airplane crews and a nurse were taking care of my husband on the flight to my hometown. My husband was in the hospital for three months before he was transferred again to Singapore General Hospital for another two months due to severe burns and fractures. My children came to the hospital with tears because they didn’t realize that their fatherwas afflicted with severe burns and suffered from a fractured shoulder. When they met their daddy they saw that their daddy was in critical condition. I hugged all my children telling them that everything was going to be all right. My husband was hospitalized for six months before he finally was back home with his family.