Todd Starnes, radio host and conservative author, witnessed a miracle happen before his eyes while traveling on a Delta airliner from Dallas to New York City.
“It must have been terrifying, but there was such a calm atmosphere on board,” Starnes said. “The Lord was clearly in control.”
A fellow woman passenger was having a heart attack at 30,000 feet, and the flight attendant announced over the intercom that a doctor was needed. Miraculously, there were five doctors on board, including a cardiologist.
He needed some way to monitor the impromptu patient’s vitals, and a man on the flight said that he had an app on his phone that could do just that.
Soon, there was another announcement that the cardiologist needed a particular heart medication for the woman, which Starnes had, as he had rushed to the airport earlier in the day and stuffed his medicines into his handbag.
Starnes knew very well what the woman was going through because, in 2005, at the age of 37, he underwent open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve with a mechanical one. “As a cardiac patient,” he said, “you do think about what would happen if you had an episode on a plane or driving down the highway.”
Soon, the pilot diverted the airplane to Baltimore so that the woman could be treated by paramedics on the ground. Just 45 minutes later, the rest of the travelers were back on their way to New York City.
This incident reminded Starnes that there is still some good left in humanity and that we all have to be there for each other. “Passengers in my section of the plane had actually stopped watching the television screens, and they put down their smartphones to engage in what was happening,” he said. “They kept coming back and asking to see my medications, and one guy marveled at the ‘coincidence.’ I remember telling him quietly, ‘No, sir. It’s not a coincidence. It’s God.’”
Starnes is right, because the ‘hand of God’ can be clearly seen throughout the entire incident. Everything seemed to be stitched together by God so that the woman could get the treatment she needed on time and live to give her testimony to all.