Mike Tussey: Destiny, fate, or divine intervention? Your choice. . .

In our lives, there are or will be instances that you will encounter that became very serious. So much so, that the incident could certainly put you into intensive care and therapy or you may have to live with a severe handicap.

Most people will tell you that they have indeed experienced a life-threatening situation recently or in past years. However, many would say they survived just fine.

However, questions do arise such as:

• How did I escape certain death?
• Why was I spared?
• Was it fate, destiny, or divine intervention?

These instances could be any manner of event that put you within a heartbeat of ending your life, yet somehow you survived. Just sit back and think about it, and you will likely say to yourself, “Wow! I was plenty lucky!”

Then there are those of us who certainly believe that it’s more the luck, it could be they feel they are destined to do more in my life, thus the escape from it all.

Whatever you believe, is certainly your right in any manner of discussion; and that’s a good thing. For me, there have been a few events that put me at the threshold of life or death.

The first for me was September, 1965. We had just bought a new Chevy Corvair that was unique at the time because the engine was in the rear, the trunk up front.

Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate had consistently condemned the vehicle for its uncontrollable sway in certain circumstances. One of those would be in heavy rain where it could hydroplane. I had never heard of those concerns, so we bought the car because it beautiful, small, and compact for my wife and me.

On a Friday night, September 10, 1965 I was on my to broadcast a high school football game in Ashland, Kentucky. A torrential down pour was coming down, visibility was compromised. My windshield wipers were on high, when I encountered a curve in the road that was banked left to right, as I navigated through, the car hydroplaned and I crossed the center line and hit an oncoming 1964 Grand Prix head on. Seat belts in ’65 were called lap belts and not used much at all by the public. I didn’t have mine on.

The Pontiac plowed through the empty Corvair trunk up front and ate the front end for lunch. Upon impact, I was knocked out of the front seat and landed under the glove box unconscious. They found the Pontiac’s head light rim in my front seat, the windshield was gone. The steering column was hanging by wires only. I woke up in the emergency room at the hospital very stunned and groggy. I had glass in my left eye which was bleeding, 2 bruised ribs and knees. That was it.

The other driver went through his windshield and he was in intensive care. He later survived as I did. I could have been killed or lost 2 legs and/or an eye. I walked away from it all. How was that possible? Was it fate, destiny, or divine intervention? Whatever it was, I have never forgotten that rainy night and thanked God even today.

Fast forward to 25 years ago, April 1998. Over the passing years I had put on an enormous amount of weight. I was working shift work, holding down three jobs, and had no time for exercise or dieting. I retired from the Ashland Police Department in 1990. By 1995 I had ballooned up to 212 lbs on a 5’9 frame with a waistline of 42.

In 1998 my family and I decided to move to Northern Kentucky to be close to our sons and in a short time, I accepted a position with the Northern Kentucky University Police. At that time, I was 59 and the heaviest I had ever been in my life. The photo shows me interviewing the late Charlie Pride in Branson with the excess weight. Then the 2nd event happened .

I got up one morning and immediately severe excruciating pain hit hard. Next, my cardio system was shutting down. I could hardly breathe. Then moments later, the nausea and vomiting commenced. My wife Jo hurried to my side and I told her I thought I was having a heart attack and to get me to the hospital. Saint Elizabeth hospital was just a short distance away so we made it very quickly. In seconds, I was in the ER and I remembered the doctor saying, “Mike..Don’t leave us! I’m giving you a clot buster!” Later, after testing and stabilization, my cardiologist told me that I indeed had suffered a severe heart attack and that I had six major arteries nearly 100% blocked. He then made a very sobering statement: “Frankly, we don’t know how you’re here.”

I told him I did. He had puzzled look on his face as I pointed to the ceiling. He then replied, “You certainly had someone in your corner!” He told me I was scheduled for open heart surgery the next morning. I asked him if I had a choice. Then another sobering statement: “Not if you want to live.”

The 9-hour surgery went very well and it saved my life. Today, I have those 6 bypasses and over the last 25 years, you can add in 5 stents and a balloon in my chest. Over the years, I have kept my weight at 165 and exercise daily on my treadmill. I moved on doing many things in life that I think I was destined to do.

However, on that April morning 25 years ago, I know without any doubt, HE was there with me and certainly had other plans for me to pursue and finish.

Next event took place on November 16, 2016. It was a few days prior to Thanksgiving Day, the temperature zoomed to a very unseasonable 72 with a sunny sky. As I looked out the window I thought this is a good opportunity with the warm temperature to put up the Christmas decorations. So, to the garage and out came the boxes. Our home has a double-wide driveway and next to it is a six foot retaining wall with a beautiful Japanese Maple on it and every year I decorated it with lights. Around the base of the tree is loose mulch. As I was working my way around the tree, my left foot slid in the mulch and I lost my balance and the fall began.

It’s funny how time seems to standstill. The one second it took for gravity to take charge seemed very long just before the impact on the hard concrete. It was like getting hit by a huge truck. A natural instinct is to “break” your fall with your hand which is what I tried to do, as my head bounced onto the concrete and bringing a ton of pain and some blood. The impact shattered my left elbow with even more excruciating pain. My wife Jo was in the house, she could not hear my cry for help. I somehow crawled to the wall, braced myself and kept shouting for her seemingly for at least several minutes.

Then, she came out, but not because of my cries for help, she just came to see how it was looking and found me. We immobilized my left arm with an extension cord and hurried to St. Elizabeth and the ER. The ER took appropriate x-rays, reset my elbow; and referred me for follow up later as my back was in pain as well. Again, was it fate, destiny or divine intervention that motivated my wife to check on me? Or was it just luck?

It was determined later that I did not have a skull fracture, but suffered a concussion. I did sustain stress fractures of my spinal discs at the top and at the bottom of my spine which today, still emits periodic pain down my arm and my left leg.

The bottom line, I had survived a horrible fall which certainly could have been fatal, but somehow survived.

Today, I prefer to believe it was divine intervention. I would go on and continue my broadcasting and moving onto ESPN + and presently I am very proud to be a columnist here with the Northern Kentucky Tribune.

In 1956 there was a movie about pro boxer Rocky Graziano who became the Middleweight Champion of the World in 1947. It was based on his autobiography of 1955 which chronicled his pain, problems, trials and tribulations and how he overcame it all. The name of the great movie was, SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME!

You know what? I think that same SOMEONE likes me.

Mike Tussey has “retired” from a 60-plus-year career as a legendary play-by-play announcer for over 2000 football, baseball, and basketball games, including most recently for ESPN+. His career also includes a stint in law enforcement, teaching and coaching, and writing books, including the “Touchdown Saints.” He grew up in Eastern Kentucky and now lives in Florence with his wife, Jo. He has opened another “Door of Opportunity” and is now a regular columnist for the NKyTribune.