Maybe the fact I was injured as a teenager plays a significant role, but I am disconcerted by how linked I feel to another’s journey across the ocean. Someone I don’t even know.
Julia is an 18-year-old college freshman from Western Ukraine. She was hit by a substance-abusing-driver while crossing the street at a green light. The impact of the hit flung her across the vehicle, smashing her face on the trunk and then the asphalt. She has a severe head injury, broken facial bones, a broken tailbone and a multitude of abrasions. After 18 days she woke up from her coma. Miracle number one. We are hoping and praying for miracle number two. Restoration.
It can look so different from injury to injury. Restoration doesn’t mean we get everything back the way it was. Vibrant life may be dimmed for a while. The struggles to rebuild and find some kind of new normal sap our strength. We lean hard on others.
Julia is a fighter being treated at a medical facility along with injured soldiers from a dicey political situation within the country’s borders. Resources are scarce for everyone. Pensions and salaries haven’t been paid for months. Each day Julia’s mom is given a list of medicines and supplies she must purchase out of pocket from pharmacies around her city. She sleeps on the floor each night by Julia’s bed.
At this point restoration seems far off. They are living by faith each day. Tomorrow morning Julia will undergo her first surgery to reset her broken jaw. It will be wired shut for a month. Her broken tailbone is next in line. Step by step…
I took this picture at her aunt’s house in Southern Russia. Julia spent her winter holiday there, helping with outreach to handicapped kids in the area. The garden awaits her return.