My husband, Ed, was terrific. A great husband, devoted and loving father and a friend to many. He was diagnosed with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. As there is no cure for the genetic disease Alpha-1, the only solution is a lung transplant.
Ed was fortunate enough to be put on the transplant list after a year of testing. The experience was very scary. Our lives had been turned upside down and inside out. The time finally came with a 12:30 am phone call. I can't begin to tell you the terror that gripped us both at that moment. We were so scared! Ed's condition was worsening. He didn't have much time.
The day after surgery the Doctors began to wake Ed. With a vent tube in his throat he was terrified and started to thrash. Suddenly, he relaxed and would later tell us, he found himself sitting on a park bench next to a man. After a moment, he realized that his companion was God. The peace was unexplainable.
Later, as he talked about the experience, I asked him what God looked like. Ed said no face was visible but that the experience and the feeling of great peace in those moments was unbelievable. He knew there was no way to explain it. From the look on his face we knew that those few moments with God were true and that God had brought Ed through the frightful ventilator experience.
After the successful transplant we began to understand the great blessing we had received. Our whole family joined us in thanking God. We were especially thankful for the family who had provided the most wonderful of gifts, an organ donation.
Ed Needham was a strong and determined man who put up a good fight. He often told me, after that park bench experience, he would try to get back to that place but always failed. I have no doubt that now he has peace and great happiness and is sitting on a park bench next to God.
God tells us that he will not give us more than we can handle. He was there for Ed and me to help us through the most difficult time in our life. God promises to always be there for anyone in their time of need.
Sandy Koster
This page is in tribute to my late husband and his faith in God.
