[.ca] Angels in the Wilderness: The True Story of One Womans ... (ISBN 0971088896)

Angels in the Wilderness:
Some stories are almost too incredible to believe. They read like fiction even though they are fact and inspire all who read them to look beyond themselves and find faith in a higher power. Such is the story of Amy Racina, who has published her memoir, Angels in the Wilderness, an account of her sixty-foot fall in the Sierra Nevada mountains and her subsequent struggle to survive and thrive after breaking both her legs. The author relays how she lay in a remote area of Kings Canyon National Park at least 25 miles from the nearest trailhead believing she would die and fighting to stay alive for four days before she heard two toots of a whistle and was rescued by three people she refers to as her wilderness angels, Jake Van Akkeren, Leslie Bartholic and Walter Keiser. Racina shares her belief that there was a greater design or purpose behind her rescue. First, her three rescuers almost cancelled their trip because one of them was recently injured. When she learns this, she feels the touch of divine purpose, saying: & these three have been sent to find me, guided by some force greater than any of us. It is not just chance that they are here now to pluck me out of this vast expanse of deserted wilderness. I dont believe in coincidence. I do believe in miracles. Second, Jake, who hears her cry for help and is the first human contact she has in days, is actually hard of hearing, but was able to discern her call and perceive her need. Third, she is told her rescuers would not have heard her if she would have stayed where she had fallen. She claims it was miraculous guidance that enabled her to drag herself to where she could be heard. Fourth, when Walter goes for help he comes across a camp of vacationing firefighters, who are able to use their skills to assist Racina in her time of peril. The willingness of those firefighters to respond & made the difference between life and death for me, she acknowledges. The timing was also incredible. According to the medical staff who treat her at the University Medical Center in Fresno, if Racina had been rescued one day later she could have lost her right leg and infection could have spread to her vital organs. Having no health insurance, Racina was worried her medical bills would ruin her financially, but the miracle continued. Family members, friends and strangers came to her aid after she was released from the hospital, giving her a place to stay and paying for her home care treatments. Her physical therapists also donated their time to help her get back on her feet. But most importantly for her financial well-being, Racina was granted retroactive Medi-Cal for the month of August 2003. She was in the hospital from Aug. 8-30 of that year and consequently $289,000 of her $300,000 medical bill was paid by the California Department of Health Services. This seems to me the final miracle of my salvation, she says. I am rescued from financial destruction. Surely the world is a hospitable place, if these kinds of miracles can happen, if people in hardship can receive help when they need it so desperately. Angels in the Wilderness is an inspirational tale of one womans miraculous recovery from a horrible accident. It will make you laugh, cry and appreciate the angels in your own life.