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They believe God saved Kathleen Moser’s life when she suffered from a blood clot that moved from her leg to her lungs, and they believe God cured her of the debilitating disease fibromyalgia — a condition of feeling widespread, immense and chronic pain for no apparent reason. There is no known cure.
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Greg Moser, founder of Rock Solid Youth Group, speaks Sunday morning at Cornerstone Community Church in Winona. Moser’s leg was amputated after he was pinned to a tree by a large branch that instantly severed four of his toes in June. (Photo by Fred Schulze/Winona Daily News) |
And the Mosers believe God will perform a miracle and Kathleen’s husband, Greg, will grow a new leg and foot to replace the recently amputated limb following a tree-cutting accident in June.
“I got my healing,” Kathleen said to a congregation of about 30 at the Cornerstone Community Church on Sunday morning. “And (Greg’s) is coming.”
A 7-year-old girl named Faith had been praying for Greg’s recovery and had a dream in which Greg’s legs were in perfect condition. That dream gives him hope for a miracle.
“I believe I’m going to get a new leg and foot,” he said. “I’m believing for a miracle.”
Greg Moser, the founder of the Rock Solid religious community group, was on the Job Squad on June 16 clearing dead trees and brush from a yard just up the road from his own home on Old Homer Road.
He stood with one foot atop a 12-foot ladder and the other planted firmly on the tree. He cut the last of four huge branches — this one two feet in diameter — and it fell and pinned his left leg against the tree. On its way down, the branch took his steel-toed boot off and peeled off the skin from his ankle to his toes “like a sock,” he said. Four toes were severed instantly.
Moser was trapped in the tree for five minutes while four other men on the Job Squad used chainsaws to cut the branch free. He never lost consciousness and remained calm as emergency responders loaded him into an ambulance.
Moser said he doesn’t remember much of that day afterward but severe pain and a noisy helicopter ride that took him from Community Memorial Hospital in Winona to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn. The doctors were unable to save his severed toes and had to wait and see if amputation was necessary for the rest of the foot.
During his two-week stay in the hospital, doctors, nurses, family and friends stood by his side and prayed for his recovery. Moser lay in bed the whole time, pushing a button to dispense more morphine into his system every six minutes to dull the pain.
On June 26, the doctors explained Moser’s two options.
He could have his left leg amputated just below the knee, which would allow him to wear a prosthetic leg and foot that, with rehabilitation and practice, would eventually give him 100 percent mobility.
The other option was saving what was left of the foot with a series of surgeries that would take up to nine months to complete. The plan was to harvest muscle from under his arm and skin from his back to graft to the bottom of his foot. Complete success could not be guaranteed, however, and even if it was successful, Moser would be left with a kind of “club foot” requiring a special shoe that wouldn’t give him the mobility he needed.
He made the decision that day and doctors amputated the leg two days later. He made his decision, in part, because of Faith’s dream and his belief in divine healing.
“I’d rather be 100 percent through prosthesis or a miracle than through a funny shoe and maybe not be able to run,” he said.
Moser can start wearing a prosthetic leg and foot in late August but will be limited by how long he can wear it. To prevent sores and infections from forming, the prosthetics must be phased in over time. He is expected to be back at 100 percent mobility sometime between December and February next year.
He’ll walk without a limp within a year and unless someone knew about the accident, people won’t be able to tell the difference, his wife said.
Moser never questioned his faith in the hospital but asked God about his situation once he got home and had nothing to do.
“Am I where God wants me to be right now?” he asked.
Typically a hands-on kind of guy who will put in 10-hour shifts at work, Moser was reduced to sitting around at home, providing verbal direction to his 40 staff members at Rock Solid, who all stepped up to fill the void.
Moser’s work with Rock Solid — the Job Squad, the coffee shop on Sarnia Street, and the “Alice in Wonderland” play coming this August — is secondary to his true calling of ministry work with children. He’ll keep up with the ministry aspect of Rock Solid, and focus less on “the other stuff,” Moser said.
“I will help them any way I can,” he said.
Contact Kevin Behr at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
lograham wrote on Jul 13, 2008 3:49 PM: