A survivor from death's doorstep • Pathway

A survivor from death’s doorstep

By Bob Baysinger
Managing Editor

November 4, 2003

Bobby Shows

Bobby Shows family recalls that eventful day

HOLTS SUMMIT –The last thing Bobby Shows expected to do was die.

But he did.

It caught everyone off guard – even the hospital staff.

Doctors and nurses were relaxing after installing a pacemaker into the chest of the former Missouri Baptist Convention employee. Aware that the unexpected is to be expected at hospitals, physicians and nurses were sent scurrying when Bobby slipped into “code blue" that day at St. Mary’s Health Center in Jefferson City .

The date was June 2, 2002 , not long after leaving the MBC to devote full time to the Sports Crusaders organization.

It was a shock because Bobby’s health appeared excellent when he entered the hospital that morning for what is generally regarded as a minor surgical procedure. Bobby played basketball at Mississippi State University and had stayed active as a college basketball referee. It had been determined, however, that he needed the pacemaker to regulate a low pulse.

His daughter, Cynthia Walker, had traveled from North Little Rock , Ark. , that day to be with her dad. Not because she was overly concerned.

“It was just one of those situations. I felt like I needed to be there," Cynthia told The Pathway.

As the day transpired, it became obvious why Cynthia needed to be by her daddy’s side.

“My daddy and I are so close," she said.

Here is what she said happened that eventful afternoon and night at the hospital.

“Basically, daddy had come out of the surgery. They had put him back into his room. He started to eat a meal and was talking a little bit, but I could tell something was a little different about him," Cynthia said. “I could tell he was behaving a little differently."

“He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking out the window. I remember him saying, ‘Things are so fuzzy. I can’t see.’ I told daddy it was just the anesthesia wearing off."

Bobby’s wife, Jane, was in the room with Cynthia and her dad. Jane decided to leave and make some calls to family members, the Union Hill Baptist Church family and others, telling them that Bobby had made it though the surgery alright.

“I was sitting there holding his hand and talking to him," Cynthia recalled. “He started pointing to his chest and said ‘it’s starting to hurt right here.’ I told him that’s where his pacemaker incision was. I told him, ‘Daddy, you got cut this time. You’ve got a big pacemaker in there and it’s going to be sore.’"

Just to be safe, Walker decided to get a nurse, who came in and reported that he was fine. The nurse explained that sometimes pacemaker incisions “are a little more sensitive."

“Mother came back into the room, and daddy started complaining more. He said, ‘It’s really hurting,’ and big tears welled up in his eyes. He said, ‘It’s just so tight.’

Walker said she will never forget her dad looking at the nurse and saying, “Ma’am, please help me." And turning to his daughter and saying, “Please make her help me."

Unknown to the family at the time was the fact that Bobby’s main artery had collapsed. He was in the middle of a massive heart attack.

“I looked at him and said, “Daddy, just calm down … stay calm … it’s okay … keep breathing and everything will be fine."

Walker said there was a quiet calm in the room. No yelling, “just a very odd presence," she said. “I was holding his hand and had his head on my arm."

What had been encouragement for her dad quickly turned into a combination of commands mixed with some praying. “I said, ‘Daddy, you hold on … keep breathing … everything will be fine. Please, Jesus, take this pain away.’

“The last thing he said was, ‘Help me, help me.’"

Suddenly, Bobby stopped breathing. His complexion turned a deathly pale.

“He was gone," Cynthia said.

Quickly, the intensity level increased in the hospital room.

Jane returned and, seeing her husband’s face, yelled for a nurse. Still holding her dad’s head on her arm, Cynthia’s commands to her father took on a sense of urgency.

“You fight, daddy. You fight …," she yelled.

When the doctor arrived, all family members were escorted out of the room. Cynthia didn’t know what was happening behind the closed door, but she could hear a lot of “hustle and bustle."

She said she is still thankful for the nurse who was on duty that day. She never learned the woman’s last name, remembering her only as “Renada."

“Renada came out of the room and was so calm and peaceful. All she said was, “You just pray," Walker said. “It just so happened that Bro. David Higgs (Union Hill’s pastor at the time) had come to the hospital to check on daddy. He started a prayer chain immediately."

Cynthia said they stood outside the room for what “seemed like an eternity," but was probably not more than “20 to 30 minutes." Several times the nurse came to warn the family that doctors could not get Bobby to breathe and that his heart would not continue pumping on its own.

“You need to be prepared," the nurse told the family.

“The next thing I know, they were wheeling daddy out of the room. He was pointing his finger at them and telling them to “take this thing out of my throat.’ They were rushing him to emergency surgery," Cynthia said.

What happened?

“What God did was completely a miracle," she said. “I think we were in the presence of the Lord in that hospital room. God completely manifested Himself in that entire experience.

“I will never forget that night. Daddy was in intensive care, and that precious nurse let me stay in with daddy all night. Mother was completely exhausted. I stayed up all night holding his hand and praying with him. As I prayed, all I could remember was the verse out of Psalms that the ‘Lord will cover you with his wings.’"

Bobby now appears to have regained his health completely.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting all that," he said. “I had the heart attack when they took me back to the room. There was a blockage somewhere, but the earlier tests did not find it. God and my doctor had a little partnership going. They determined that I was going to make it."

Bobby, who has returned to his Sports Crusaders Ministry, said he remembers nothing about the encounter with death. There were no visions, no out-of-body experience, nothing.

“They tell me they hit me with those paddles 24 times," he said. “They say the paddles hurt, but I don’t remember any pain at all."

Cynthia said it was actually more than 24 times.

“They stopped counting at 24," she said.

Meanwhile, the Sports Crusaders endeavor has grown from one basketball team, going out to teach fundamentals of the sport and share Christ, to 11 going to more than 40 churches and numerous secular settings. According to Bobby, there have been 215 decisions for Christ registered at Sport Crusaders’ camps this year.

Sports Crusaders is now receiving international invitations, the most recent from Turkey .

Since his 2002 brush with death, Bobby’s life has taken on a “whole different meaning.

“The breeze is fresher, and God is more real," he said. “When you know God could have taken you home and decided not to, it makes you appreciate life much more. Every breath is precious. The flowers and trees are more beautiful than they have ever been."

Cynthia notices her dad’s new zeal for life.

“My daddy is honestly a man who completely loves the Lord. Through all this, he never wants any attention put on him. It was such a miracle. We watched him die, and God completely brought him back."

“Romans 15:13 says there is will be joy if you trust in Him," she added. “That night, we were completely in the presence of joy and hope."

“I told daddy he wasn’t leaving us. And he didn’t."

“Romans 15:13 says there is will be joy if you trust in Him," she added. “That night, we were completely in the presence of joy and hope."

“I told daddy he wasn’t leaving us. And he didn’t."

ddy is honestly a man who completely loves the Lord. Through all this, he never wants any attention put on him. It was such a miracle. We watched him die, and God completely brought him back."

“Romans 15:13 says there is will be joy if you trust in Him," she added. “That night, we were completely in the presence of joy and hope."

“I told daddy he wasn’t leaving us. And he didn’t."