Prayers from across the world are being offered for a Poplar Bluff pastor who was injured in an accident at his home Saturday.
Brian Sharp suffered broken ribs on both sides, punctured lungs and a broken wrist. Sharp and his wife, Pam, are the founding pastors at Grace Christian Fellowship.
Waiting Tuesday for her husband to return from surgery, Pam said, “Every way we turned, we saw God.”
Pam explained, “We had a swing on a limb that had died. So we were taking the swing down. He was going to saw that limb off. So he brought a 12 foot ladder. He’s so cautious. He placed it just right with a pulling rope so it would pull away from the ladder. But it swung back and hit the ladder. The ladder fell and he fell on top of the ladder.”
Pam recalls, “He jumped up startled ‘I lost my breath.’ He was moaning. He hasn’t even yelled out or shed a tear to this day. He’s just in a lot of pain. He started trying to walk.”
The family, who lives in the country, believed they could get him to the local emergency room before an ambulance could get to them.
“My brother-in-law came quickly. Got him in the car and took him to the ER,” she said.
She describes the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center emergency room as “amazing. I have three in particular that were unbelievable, wonderful. The doctor was amazing. I’ve had wonderful, wonderful experiences, and this one was no different. They had him out and in the helicopter within two or three hours.”
The nurses were Jessica Earnest and charge nurse Amanda Weeks, and he was also seen by Dr. Nadipelli.
“I would say everybody there was super, they got him immediately. They went above and beyond, caring and taking care of him and everything,” said Pam.
Pam was worried about a helicopter being available to air evacuate him to St. Louis University Hospital, since the local emergency room had to deal with and transfer three trauma patients Saturday.
All along the way, Pam said, others marvel at how Brian is dealing with his injuries.
Once they arrived at the St. Louis hospital, Pam said, “When we got here that night, one of the trauma doctors said, with breaks on both sides and having fallen on his back, ‘I just don’t know why his back was not broken. He must have had something going on with the higher power.’”
The Sharps agree.
Surgery on Tuesday used a plate and pins to help stabilize one side of Brian’s injured ribs.
“I’m glad they can have this innovative procedure that should give him relief a little quicker and be a little more permanent,” she said. “That’s wonderful. They have the ICU. They have the anesthetist team for pain control, the trauma team, the orthopedic team. They’ve been great.”
“The other side they didn’t have to do that too, because they were not displaced as bad,” she said. “They were just broken. The other side should heal fine. They put a new chest tube in, a drain.”
While the Sharps were waiting for surgery, Pam told her husband, “You’ve been so resolute and strong through this.”
Brian replied, “Ministry doesn’t just happen in the pulpit. He (God) says, ‘Wherever we go, whatever we’re doing. We have opportunity, everyplace we are.’ I’m gonna take those opportunities.”
Pam praises the support of her family and the church.
“My family has been by our side and our daughters haven’t left our sides either,” she said. “They’ve been up here. We care for my parents. Brian and I do actually live with them. My sister is here a lot and quit her job in Texas so she could be here to do that as well. That whole part of our life is going to change because Brian does a lot of the lifting Dad. Also, our church all picks up and covers whatever needs to happen on that front. We have a wonderful church family.”
Another amazing thing is the Sharps have connections around the world with people.
“We’ve been to missions and we’ve got messages from Zimbabwe, from Brazil, from Colombia, from Mexico,” she said. “This is just amazing. It is amazing how people have let us know they’re praying or sent prayers. Just absolutely amazing. When you know, when you see favor happen in different situations, we know exactly why because of all the prayers going up.”
Pam shared, she thinks it is “funny Brian was so excited about his sermon for last Sunday and was very frustrated that he couldn’t give it. He is doing a series called “One -Anothering.“ He had purchased LEGOs and was going to give each person one as they came in. His premise was that we better fulfill our purpose as God’s people when we connect with each other.
“I know we have felt that connectivity loud and clear this week,” she said. “He was talking about it to the nurses in ICU here and they were all teasing him and said they were going to get the hospital PA system and let him at it.”
Pam shared, Brian probably wouldn’t agree with her, “but I’ve got a chainsaw to sell for cheap. Just kidding. It was an accident. That’s all it was. You know how that happens.”