Danny’s Ride

Danny wrote this and wanted to share this with everyone.  Please enjoy!

I would like to take you back to last Sunday, May 10th, in Van Horn, TX.  We all had a nice breakfast and we talking about Saturday’s Trip up the mountain to Van Horn.  That was a very exhausting day for all three of us.  It was a 100 degrees and we were in the desert climbing mountains that just didn’t seem to stop.  Kenneth was in that motor home all day giving us water and driving ten miles ahead of us but making sure we had what we needed.

Drew, looked pale and had pushed himself to the point of total exhaustion and he had salt crusted on his face. I had pushed myself to the point that I was very light-headed and dizzy and felt that I was going to pass out.  Sunday since we were one day ahead of schedule we decided to take it easy and enjoy the day.  We were planning to go to church but we had gained an hour and missed church, so we wanted to see what the town of Van Horn was like and decided to check out the town with the help of the manager’s car.   We drove through the town which was very clean with wide streets and all of us were very impressed with this small town that had no gangs or crime. 

We drove to a Dollar Store and when I got out of the car, I couldn’t keep my balance. Drew and Ken asked me if I was ok?–I told him that I was dizzy and weak.  I had been getting dizzy lately and had fallen off my bike several times after a couple of ninety mile rides. Ken and Drew urged me to go the hospital and get checked out.  I agreed and went to the emergency room in Van Horn. I was told that there was something going on around my heart, I had some fluid in my right lung, and I was dehydrated. I didn’t know anything about the doctor and I felt the need to talk to my cardiologist. I called him and he wanted me to be admitted to the hospital right away.

I was taken by ambulance to Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, TX., approximately 120 miles from Van Horn.  When I arrived at Del Sol Medical Center they started me on Laski’s  to relieve my body of all the water that I had in my lung, legs, and body.  I was given a nuclear stress test, a carotid artery test, and a EKG. 

These tests I passed with flying colors.  After four more tests they found a blockage in one of the arteries in the back of my heart. Tuesday morning they did a heart catheterization but the artery was to small to put in a stint. All the other tests that I took were normal.  On Wednesday, I developed phlebitis in my right arm from an iv that was put in on Sunday night when we arrived.  My doctors decided that I needed to stay in the hospital until the swelling went down.

On Friday, at 6:35pm, we walked out of the hospital with a real commitment and the feeling of an excitement that went through us that something very special was going to happen—we all felt it.  Although, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to ride for several days, I was still part of a group of men who are so dedicated to our cause. When I start riding again, I will ride, but not to the point of exhaustion that I was riding before. I’m very stubborn and demand so much from myself, but I finally learned that I’m not in my twenties anymore—-just my late thirties.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and their concerns.  We will finish this trip and touch millions and millions of people and save lives–this we will do.

When I picked out Christian men to go on this trip with me I could not have picked better people than Kenneth Skipper and Drew Wessels who believe in what we’re doing, who care so much about others, and give everything they have everyday to make this trip so successful—what a blessing.  God put this together from the very beginning in August of 2007–that will be one of the stories that I will share with you soon.