Friday, March 21, 2008

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Many do and perhaps a lot more don't. We have so much information available to us it is easy to be a skeptic and look for ways to explain the inexplicable.

Some will read this account and say it is just another coincidence. Others will define it as luck.

But some who want to believe in miracles will see this story in a different light.

If you don’t believe in miracles, then you didn’t read of Greg Bugher’s heroism on the front page of this section. The Russiaville man and his family witnessed the horrific accident on Interstate 465 Easter morning – the one that took the lives of Joy Edwards and a motorist who was driving the wrong way on the highway.

Bugher risked his life to save those of Branden, Courtney and Kristin Wade, and their friends, Alex Stang and Chase Parker.

After the violent impact, Edwards’ van was on its passenger side. Fire burned from the engine.

Bugher first pulled Courtney from the wreckage and ran back to the burning van.

“I looked over at my wife and Courtney and, at that moment, I realized I might not be coming back,” Bugher told us last week. “My family, I knew they were safe and God was going to protect them. But, if I don’t go do something to help the kids in the van, they weren’t going to live.”

One by one, Bugher and a passer-by extricated the children – even as the fire crept closer to the van’s fuel cell.

“When Branden came out, the flames were at the second seat,” Bugher said. “Thirty or 40 more seconds and he would have been burning. By the time we got him away and turned back, it was engulfed and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.”

It is a miracle those five children were saved.

It is a miracle that Joy Edwards veered to the right just before the impact, saving the life of Courtney, who was sitting up front.

It is a miracle that selfless folks like Bugher and his wife, Dianna, were there to help.

It is a miracle the Bughers were even on the road.

“I’m in the passenger seat and was just starting to fall asleep,” Greg Bugher said. “[Dianna] asked if I wanted to get gas at this exit. I said no, go to the next one.”
As children, many of us are taught that God has plans for us – that our lives have purpose.

Easter morning, Greg and Dianna Bugher fulfilled a bit of theirs.


Peace and blessings.
blog comments powered by Disqus