Adrenaline masks pain way better than Percocet!!

This post does not have direct leadership application. There is no deep point to be uncovered—it is just too soon to pull anything out yet, but I need to share an experience.

If you have been paying attention, you know I have had a tough year with pain and surgeries. I learned a new lesson yesterday: Adrenaline masks pain way better than Percocet. Man, the body is amazing. AND, I got my miracle—even though it wasn’t the one I had been praying for. The miracle? I am alive.

Let me explain. I was the solo rider in a hotel shuttle on Sunday morning. We got onto the main road—a 4 lane road with stoplights. Just after getting up to speed the driver mentioned that he had a “neurological condition” and didn’t feel well. The next thing I knew—my driver was completely passed out!! I mean OUT COLD….no response at all.

Driver’s foot on the accelerator. 50 miles per hour. Car ahead. Non responsive driver. 4 elements that quickly caught my attention. I had to grab the steering wheel and avoid the car in front of us as we passed them. I managed to use my freshly operated on shoulder to pull his foot off the accelerator and put the transmission in neutral to help us slow down. In the meantime, we have gone through a stoplight—that was, fortunately, still green.

(My next decision as I see another stoplight coming up was a commitment to get this thing stopped.) As I noticed the next upcoming red stoplight, and blood pumped faster through my newly operated on heart, my commitment to get this thing stopped increased. The vehicle was an SUV with a floor console and bucket seats, yet I managed to climb over the console, sit on top of the driver—between him and the steering wheel—and hit the brake pedal, pull over to the side of the road and get the vehicle into park.

WHEW….I have to tell you that the adrenaline was running strong through the body. Lately, I have struggled with picking up anything, twisting in any way and grabbing anything with my hand. To be honest, I’m actually having physical pain while I type this. But, for a few minutes I was grabbing the wheel, pulling on a pants leg, and climbing over seats in a car. The body is amazing—to think we produce a chemical way better than what I bought at CVS.

This was a shuttle ride to remember. We both survived and I thanked God for the day. I mean, I REALLY was thankful…not just the Christian buzz phrase. I got my miracle…

Here is where my staff and I disagree on how to end the story. The true ending is that “buddy” came to, I drove the rest of the way to the airport, made sure he was ok and promised to call him later that day. And yes, I made my flight. People I tell this story to can’t believe I didn’t call 911 or this guy’s boss or SOMEONE! All I can say is that this seems to be business as usual for me. I joke that I’m good in crisis but not much else, and after I made my young driver promise he would call his doctor, I gave him a fatherly lecture on how to deal with his chronic condition. Next time, he simply needs to recognize his trigger symptoms faster!

I’m still trying to figure this one out. But I’m glad to be here and I look forward to what God has next.