Believing in Miracles

Posted on June 2, 2012 Updated on June 2, 2012

I know exactly where I was at this time 2 years ago.  I don’t remember what I was teaching or what my students were doing at the time.  I just remember seeing my Mom’s phone number show up on my cell phone and thinking it was really early for her to be calling.  I remember her words and praying that somehow she was wrong.  I grabbed my laptop and began searching for answers.  The answers left me huddled in a ball on the floor, crying my eyes out.  Those images are still so vivid in my mind, as if I am still seeing them for the first time again.  It was a day that changed my life and is a huge part of this trip to Alaska.  It has become a huge part of who I am.

Our good friends, Preston and Stacie Cavner were headed home with their two young boys and a teenager named Rachel Zeintek.  Rachel was going to work for the Cavner family at their lodge for the summer.  This was her first trip to Alaska and as a 16-year-old, I am sure she thought it was the trip of a lifetime.  Then something went wrong after take off.  The plane crashed in downtown Anchorage on the corner of 7th Avenue and Ingra Street during evening rush hour.  The plane was on fire when it hit the ground.

The most amazing thing happened as they crashed.  People came running towards the plane to help.  Men and women, complete strangers, lifted the plane up on one side and began pulling people out.  Rachel handed Hudson (2 years old) out first.  He was burnt on his foot, arm and head.  Rachel was burnt from the waist down and on one arm.  They were able to remove Preston who had burns over 15% of his body and had broken all the bones in his face.  Stacie was on fire and they struggled to get her unbuckled from her seatbelt.  She was burnt over 50% of her body.  Myles, 4 years old, was unable to be removed.

Officers who were off duty, military men and women who were off duty, mechanics, a funeral director and so many others.  Most of them left their cars, places of work, and hotels to come running to help.  Strangers who risked their lives for our dear friends.  When I think back to how little those people thought of their own safety, I still get goose bumps.  These are the people of Alaska that I have come to respect and love.

For weeks we spent hours praying and waiting to hear daily updates of how each patient was doing.  My parents flew out to see the Cavner’s just as they were being brought out of medically induced comas.  It was heart wrenching thinking about what the family was having to come to terms with.  It was during this time that Miles for Myles began.  We had to do something to help and we knew expenses were going to be bad.

It’s hard for me to describe our relationship with the Cavner’s.  Preston and Stacie live next to my parents in Dice Bay.  Dad became good friends with Preston a long time ago when he took Dad on a hunt.  Preston is a big game hunting guide.  Preston showed Dad where he was going to build a home, Dad bought the land next to him.  Preston built Mom and Dad’s cabin including a great deal of the furniture inside.  The first time I met Preston and Stacie, it was easy to see why they had become such good friends with my parents.  When Miles was born, Mom and Dad enjoyed spending time with him in the summer.  Then along comes Hudson….we have some great pictures of Dad playing with Hudson and Miles just 2 weeks before the crash.  Needless to say they have become a huge part of our family.

After the Iditarod Teacher Conference, I will be meeting my parents in Anchorage and flying out to Dice Bay.  I haven’t seen the Cavner’s in person for several years.  I am looking forward to spending time with them and playing with Hudson.  The last time I was at Mom and Dad’s was a few months after the crash.  I spent a great deal of time running and training for our Miles for Myles fundraiser.  It will be an emotional time for me.  For 2 years I have worn a bracelet that says, “Believing in Miracles”.  Rachel chose the saying and after all that happened on the day….I can say that I continue to believe in miracles.