I Was Shot in the Neck with an Arrow—And It Saved My Life

It was a warm April evening, and I had gotten home from work about an hour earlier. As I often did after a long day, I went straight to my backyard and did some work in my flower garden before deciding to light the grill to make dinner for my husband and myself. I had only just walked a few steps on the patio when I suddenly felt a horrifying blow to the right side of my neck. It felt as though someone had hit me with a baseball bat. I knew that no one was in the yard with me, so no one could have hit me. Totally confused, I reached up and, to my shock and horror, realized that I had been shot with an arrow.

I grabbed the arrow with a death grip where it had pierced my neck and ran inside, screaming my husband’s name. Ed was in the back of the house talking to our daughter, Keila, on the phone. He dropped the phone and ran to me. Ed grabbed me by the shoulders to stop me from running and told me to lie down on the couch. Then he went to call 911. I lay there and prayed. I didn’t know if there was any way that I could survive. I had no idea that I was about to discover the plan the universe had in store for me. Keep reading to find out what being shot with an arrow brought into my life! 

Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more true-life stories, travel, tech, humor and fun facts all week long.

The terrifying first hours

The next hour or so was a crazy, jumbled mix of events. I had been shot with an arrow by a young man in his backyard practicing with a compound bow, used for hunting. Luckily, he was using a practice arrow, which is smooth and rounded; a broadhead arrow for hunting would have killed me.

He lived across the alley and was shooting to the north. The arrow had ricocheted and turned back to the south. It went over two, possibly three, fences, through the shrubs and an oak tree, between two large hanging baskets, and into my neck as I walked across the patio. A shot from a compound bow can travel up to 200 miles per hour, or 300 feet per second.

Reassurances, prayers and hope

We had EMTs who were simply wonderful that evening. As they entered the house and sat down beside me, they were perfectly calm and totally focused. They called for help from the paramedics and for a medical helicopter from Amarillo, Texas, which is about 65 miles away and the closest city with a trauma center.

As the helicopter lifted off to take me to Amarillo, I felt complete peace. I had seen the large number of people outside my house, and I knew that the Lord was being bombarded with prayers on my behalf. I felt certain that everything would be fine.

At the hospital, family and friends were gathering. I tried hard to re­assure them. I kept telling them I was OK, but the looks on their faces told me that they weren’t buying it. It was a difficult job, since I had been shot with an arrow sticking out of my neck!

Blessed with a miracle

Soon, they took me back for a CT scan to determine the location of the arrow on the inside. The doctors and nurses began telling me how lucky I was. The arrow had gone between the carotid artery and the jugular vein. That space between the two is a quarter of an inch or less. The diameter of the arrow is larger than the space it went through. It actually pushed the artery to the side—without nicking it. There was no bleeding at all.

Although I didn’t realize at the time how truly incredible this was, I began arguing with them that I wasn’t “lucky”; I was “blessed”! This is an argument I have continued to wage ever since.

Surgery and a surprise

As I was being taken back to surgery to remove the arrow, my family entered a waiting room full of ­people—in fact, there were two waiting rooms full! Someone told my son, Kyle, that there was a post on the site ­Texas Bowhunter, asking for prayers for me. It turned out that a friend had called her son, who is a bow hunter, and told him about the accident, and he had posted the prayer request on that website.

The morning after my two-hour surgery, with my family all gathered in my room, a couple of the doctors came by to see me. After they left, the surgeon came in. He checked the wound and talked to us about what he had done. Then he told us something that rocked our world again.

The ultimate plan of the universe

He said that the CT scan, which I got done after being shot with an arrow, had revealed that I had a brain tumor. I remember going a bit numb but thinking, God works in mysterious ways!

The surgeon said they were almost certain the tumor was benign, but it was located in a very difficult place. I was stunned, of course, but I felt like this was God’s plan for me to find it.

A few days later, I went in for a second opinion from another neuro­surgeon. He said that it was a difficult surgery, but it had to be done. The tumor was about to cross the midline of my brain, which would have resulted in a massive stroke.

Healing and recovery

The brain surgery was successful, and in less than a week, I was back home. I was discouraged and feeling horrible. I had lost a lot of blood from a bacterial infection, Clostridium difficile, and was extremely anemic and weak. I was beginning to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress dis­order, hearing the swoosh and then the thunk sound when I was shot with the arrow. Thankfully, that didn’t last too long.

My adventures had taken a toll, and I needed a time of healing and rest. All was uneventful for a couple of years. I continued to tell people that I was not lucky; I was blessed.

I had an MRI each year to make sure that the tumor was not growing back. But in 2015, after I had my MRI, the doctor’s office called and told me that I needed to come back in to see them.

The hidden aneurysm

The doctor explained that there was still no sign of a tumor, but they had found a brain aneurysm. Normally, aneurysms aren’t discovered until they rupture, and that is almost always too late. Again, I was facing uncertainty and dreading brain surgery. I simply do not know how people go through times like these without the Lord and the peace that comes from knowing God is in control.

In the weeks before the surgery, I felt at peace with whatever the outcome would be. We went to Dallas for the procedure. They found it was a very fragile and difficult aneurysm, covered with blisters and on the verge of rupturing, but the doctor successfully clipped it.

Being shot had a silver lining!

Had I not been shot with an arrow, doctors would never have found the brain aneurysm, and I likely would have died from a tumor, a stroke or the rupture itself. Honestly, it should have killed me. But it didn’t.

For weeks and weeks, everyone gathered around me when I went to the grocery store or the post office. People would stop and hug me and even cry, saying how happy they were that this had happened. It strengthened everyone’s faith.

Coincidences? Luck? I think not. The gentleman who wrote the last comment on the prayer-request thread on Texas Bowhunter summed it up in just two words. He simply wrote, “Amazing grace.”

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.