Church celebrates soldier's recovery

The yellow bow on Living Word Ministries was waiting for her.

For more than a year, the wind yanked it and the rain faded 1st Lt. Lyndra Hedrick's name and the sun dulled its color, but it remained steadfast on the brick pillar of the Jennings Road church.

The congregation had intended for the Army reservist to cut it down when she returned from Fort Hunter Liggett in California, where she was helping soldiers preparing to go to war in Iraq.

Aided by her walker, Lyndra stood beside the ribbon Sunday waiting for that moment when she could take the black-handled scissors and cut the ribbon to officially welcome her back home.

She gave a broad smile to the crowd filled with friends, relatives and church members, many of whom played a part in helping the Hedrick family after she was critically injured six months ago in a wreck in Oklahoma.

"I'm not saying I got it all figured out," she said. "There is truly power in prayer. I'm proof of that. God was with me every step of the way, and not once did he falter."

Lyndra believes that Jesus took the wheel that night, and gave her the protection and support she needed to make the long journey home

Back in June, Lyndra was headed east on Interstate 40 through Oklahoma thrilled with the plan she had cooked up.

Her friends and family back in Statesville had no idea she was headed home in her 1998 Ford Mustang. Demobilization from Fort Hunter, Liggett wasn't scheduled for weeks. But she had permission to take her remaining leave time before reporting to Fort Bragg for out processing

That gave her plenty of time to drop by her mother's house in Tennessee before making the trip back to Statesville just in time for the Wednesday night service at Living Word Ministries, where she expected to be greeted with open arms

On June 28, she remembers stopping at a McDonald's for the second time that day and making a mental note to ask the other members of the 108th Training Command, who were traveling cross country together, if they could eat somewhere else for dinner.

That's the last crystal clear memory Lyndra has of that day. The rest of her recollections are flashes, stories from others and sensory feelings.

In hindsight, she said, she wished she had taken a nap that morning while riding in Army 1st Sgt. Nelson Spencer's car.

Never leave a soldier behind

The trio was around 40 miles from El Reno, Okla., where they planned to spend the night.

Another car was traveling between Spencer and Lyndra. She called him an hour before, joking about stopping at a historic site, he recalled.

Then, around 6:30 p.m., Spencer watched the Mustang driven by the woman he calls his little sister weave onto the rumble strips near Weatherford, Okla. She overcorrected twice before the Mustang went under the cable barrier and into the oncoming traffic of the westbound lane.

According to a report from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Lyndra's car then struck the rear dual axle of a 2005 Kenworth Semi truck driven by Scott Logan.

The axle detached and hit a Ford Expedition driven by Oklahoma City resident Issac A. Fuentes.

Neither Logan, Fuentes nor Fuentes' passenger, Brenda Salcido, were injured.

"This happened in three to five seconds," Spencer said. "It was an eternity."

He parked his car and ran to the cable barrier, where the sight of the wreckage stopped him in his tracks. The front end of Lyndra's Mustang, including the engine and front wheels, were torn off on impact. The rest of the car was in such bad shape that Spencer was certain that Lyndra was dead.

Then she reached her hand up for the window.

The look in his friend's eyes, Spencer said, asked for help and answers to what happened. He took her hand and waited for help to arrive.

Once rescue workers arrived on the scene, it took them 45 minutes to get her out of the mangled Mustang, he said.

Lyndra said she remembers feeling pressure on her legs. She also remembers Spencer telling her that everything would be all right and he would be at the hospital as emergency workers transported her to a helicopter for the flight to the Oklahoma University Medical Center.

Spencer and Sgt. 1st Class James Weeks went to the hospital, where Lyndra was already asking for them. Spencer said he decided to call their commander and wait for Lyndra Hedrick's husband, Bruce, to reach her side.

"It delayed me (from returning home) for a day," he said. "That's what soldiers do. We don't leave someone behind."

Praying for a miracle

Bruce Hedrick said the first thing he did after learning about his wife's condition was to cry out to God. He then called other church members to ask them to pray for Lyndra's recovery. One of those calls was to Living Word Pastor James Lewis on June 29 around 7:30 a.m.

Lewis said his family had just returned from vacation the previous week. His wife, Melanie, called the hospital to find out how serious Lyndra's condition was.

Lyndra had numerous broken ribs, both legs and arms were broken, a lung was collapsed, her bowels had been torn and other organs were damaged by the accident.

"She was in such critical condition," Bruce said. "It was terrible. There were more tubes than I can count were on her."

Bruce decided to leave their children, Kylee and Bryce, at his sister Teresa Penland's house where he knew they would be loved and well cared for. By the time Bruce and Lewis reached the house in Davidson, Penland's husband Kris already had plane tickets waiting for them.

They were on the plane by 11:30 a.m.

As the plane flew toward Oklahoma City, Melanie Lewis was calling Living Word Ministries members for a prayer meeting that night.

By July 1, the church had published a Web site to provide updates on Lyndra's condition and was raising money to help the family with bills.

That was the beginning of the church's crusade to help the Hedrick family. Two weeks later, church members held a yard/bake sale.

That was the day Lyndra was taken off the ventilator and told her husband "I love you."

Other people helped by cutting the grass at the Hedrick's house so many times Bruce thought it would die. A neighbor gave Lyndra a lift chair. Some people brought food, while others scrubbed the house to prepare it for Lyndra's homecoming in August.

Bruce said his employer, Cabinet Makers, also helped by buying new tires for his truck so he could make it to Oklahoma.

The congregation helped the family find a new car, and prepared for Lyndra's homecoming. Bruce Hedrick said Kris Penland even went out of his way to field the insurance company's phone calls.

"All I had to do was focus on Lyndra," he said.

Many members of the congregation said Lyndra's story inspired them and brought them closer to each other and God.

Recovery

The first couple of weeks after the accident are like a dream, Lyndra said.

She was heavily medicated to ease the pain, which makes many of her memories hazy.

"When I got to my lady, there laid a miracle," Bruce said. "Every day there was progress."

By the evening of June 29, Lyndra had undergone two of the many surgeries she would endure before returning to North Carolina on July 22.

That day Lyndra said she received some of the best medicine, as Bruce, Kylee and Bryce came to visit her at the Carolina Medical Center.

She remembers sitting up during her first physical therapy session, but she didn't want to walk.

And the physical therapy was grueling.

"I wanted to get out of the bed," Lyndra Hedrick said. "After I sat in the wheel chair for 30 minutes, I was ready to get back in the bed."

The best medicine she received came on July 22, when Bruce made it to Oklahoma for the second time with Kylee, 5, and Bryce, 2.

Bruce was still nervous about his wife's homecoming on Aug. 4.

He eventually got everything worked out. A hospital bed was prepared for her at home, and by that evening she was sitting in her wheelchair watching the two children get a bath.

"I'm very blessed to be alive and be with my family," Lyndra said. "I felt like angels were there with me keeping me safe and secure."

At the beginning of September, she left her wheelchair for the walker, which she continues to use. She hopes to be walking unassisted by the beginning of 2010.

The first time Lyndra saw pictures of her Mustang was a month ago.

She said the entire experience was surreal, but church members, friends, family and neighbors continue to be a pillar of support as her recovery progresses.

Victory

At the ceremony on Sunday, Lyndra took the scissors from Lewis, pulled the ribbon toward her and cut it. She quickly gathered up the bow in her hand and, with a triumphant smile, held it above her head.

Mission complete.