“God Is Always There”
Ricky Iroler has worked in the timber business for years. “It’s been a good living,” he said. “But sometimes it gets risky. I saw a lot of close calls. But that day it wasn’t a close call – it was the real thing.”
A large limb fell suddenly and knocked Ricky to the ground. “It broke my collarbone, my shoulder blade, four ribs on one side and two on the other side. My leg snapped right above my ankle. I was hurt pretty bad.”
Ricky was airlifted to North Carolina Baptist Hospital, a part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where he spent five days on a trauma unit. “The care was super good. I can’t say enough about the people at Baptist Hospital and how they took care of me and my wife.”
“I went home in a wheel chair and was out of work for a good three months,” Ricky said. “I was the only one of us working – but the bills kept coming. They don’t stop just because you’re hurt or you get sick.”
Ricky and his wife, Donna, suddenly were faced with overwhelming financial needs. “When the hospital bills started coming, every day we were getting two or three more. We were worried about how we were going to make it,” Donna said. “It was hard.”
In a dark valley of hardship, worry and fear, the light of God’s grace came in a letter from Baptist Hospital saying, “The balance of Ricky’s hospital bill has been paid by compassionate and mission-minded North Carolina Baptists in the name of Jesus Christ and His love.”
“I remember the day that Donna brought the letter in from the Hospital. She sat down and started crying,” Ricky said. “She read that the Mother’s Day Offering from Baptist churches had taken care of my hospital bill.”
“There were plenty of difficult times to get through. Sometimes it makes you wonder if God has forgotten about you. But the Mother’s Day Offering was one of the greatest blessings that helped us.”
“It was such a great relief to know that this burden was lifted by God’s people who care. It encouraged me know that God’s not forgotten about us, He’s always there, and always wants to help us. We thank North Carolina Baptists with all our hearts.”