Ronald Johnson – Grand Junction, Colorado … Ron Carrick began the Sabbath morning congregational prayer with the topic “Lord, it’s all about You” at the Grand Junction Seventh-day Adventist Church in Grand Junction, Colorado, January 20. This is the way Ron, church elder, and his wife Viki have lived their lives and was evident in the way they experienced a recent medical emergency.

A week before Christmas 2023, Ron left their home in Fruita, Colorado, by car to visit his son in Southern California. Along the way he became disoriented and lost.

After he failed to arrive and Viki was not able to contact him, she filed a missing person report. Ron was located at a gas station in the small town of Alamo, Nevada, way off the main travel route. The Nevada State Patrol got him into a motel there and contacted Viki.

Viki left home with a friend early in the morning, December 20, arriving in Alamo around noon. She found Ron in bed, incoherent, and in a fetal position. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital in the nearby small town of Caliente, Nevada.

A CT scan found a large subdural bleed, and he was taken by Flight-for-Life to Saint George Regional Hospital in St. George, Utah, and was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Viki’s sister, Valerie, who lives in Grand Junction, was notified and she and her husband, Mike, arrived late that evening.

On December 21, Ron was unresponsive with incoherent speech. The experienced neurosurgeon, Dr. Jotham Manwaring, described the solid clot located in the language center of the left side of the brain with concern of postoperative seizures, a very serious condition.

After a two and a half-hour surgery, the clot was removed, and the bleed source was found and stopped. The morning of December 22, Ron was alert and recognized and identified each person, the Lord’s healing blessing!

Ron spent Christmas day in the hospital with continuing improvement and was moved into neuro rehab on December 26. He remained in rehab until January 3, when he was discharged and Mike drove Ron and Viki home the next day.

Ron is progressing well with Viki’s loving care. Viki says, “the Lord has blessed us again by being able to locate a neuro-ophthalmologist close to home in Fruita that will be able to improve Ron’s visual skills and enhance his sensory integration affected by his brain trauma.”

Part of Ron’s occupational and physical therapy involves working with jigsaw puzzles. This helps him recognize the intricate lines and curves of the pieces and their orientation to place into the puzzle.

For the January 20 worship service, Viki chose and led the opening praise song “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” for the way the Lord led and continues to lead in Ron’s highway rescue, surgery, and continued healing.

—Ronald Johnson is Grand Junction Seventh-day Adventist Church correspondent. Photo by Ronald Johnson.