Survivors

I don't usually watch Larry King, but tonight I caught his show. His guests were "Lucky to be Alive". They were all unlikely survivors of lightning strikes, falls, shootings and sharks.

One woman was skydiving from 10,000 ft. She had a planned freefall for 5,000 ft, then her first parachute failed. If she had been more experienced it would not have been too much of a problem, but she wasn't. She tried the second chute, but it too failed. She landed face first on asphalt, broke many bones in her face and her pelvis. She's doing quite well now, but still needs reconstructive surgery on her face. The biggest miracle is that she was two weeks pregnant at the time, and is now the mother of a very healthy boy.

Another woman was struck by lightning and spent five days in a coma. At the time of the strike, her mother gave her cpr which probably kept her alive. She had to relearn everything and is still in a wheelchair. The doctors can't tell her how much further she will progress since they don't see many survivors of lightning.

Another survivor was a lawyer who was shot five times at point blank. His assailant hit him in the arm and neck. His only protection was a small tree that he tried to hide behind. Fortunately for him, the shooter missed major arteries and his spinal column.

The last survivor was a surfer who was attacked by a great white who kept circling him waiting for him to bleed to death. The shark took such massive bites that he required 700 stitches. He was saved by a pod of dolphins who swam between him and the shark until rescuers could reach him.

Their stories give hope to Alcides Moreno the window washer who fell from the roof of a 47 story high rise. As of Monday, he was still in critical condition. It's believed that he stayed on the scaffold which acted like a surfboard in the sky and slowed his descent.

There are still miracles.