When The Storm Came, God Proved Faithful

Exchange student Maggie Swanson always loved her morning runs through the streets of Seville, Spain. This one almost cost her - her life. Maggie was crossing a street when a bus, traveling 37 mph, hit her - throwing her 80 feet. Seven hours later and over 4000 miles away in Minnesota, Tad Weiss, got the phone call at work that his 19-year-old daughter was in the hospital fighting for her life. Tad recalls. “Our life just got turned upside down in the matter of moments with one phone call.” Tad immediately called his wife, Wendy. She says, “It was almost like an out-of-body experience. Packed the bags, grabbed the passports, made my way to Tad's office, picked him up, got to the airport. I know that that was the Holy Spirit that was guiding me.”

Wendy and Tad say despite full flights, God paved the way for them to get last minute tickets to Spain. They spent most of the journey praying. Tad says, “Praying to God during that time was probably the only thing that we felt we could do that made a difference.” Wendy says, “Maggie was a believer in Jesus Christ. And if the Lord chose not to save her life, we knew that she would go to Heaven.”

In Seville, they rushed to the hospital where they found Maggie in the ICU in a medically induced coma. It had been 25 hours since the accident. Tad recalls, “We were in shock. Due to all the swelling from the accident, it just didn't even look like Maggie.” Wendy recalls seeing Maggie that morning, “Those first moments of seeing Maggie, we just knew we had a long battle ahead of us.”

Through translators, they learned that Maggie suffered a traumatic brain injury, pelvic fracture, and broken ribs. Their main concern was the possibility of her brain swelling. The first 72 hours were critical. Wendy recalls, “They never told us that she would live or that they had assurance that she would live. And so, we went through the first four days wondering at any moment whether or not we would hear from the hospital that she had taken a turn for the worst, and we would be called in to say ‘goodbye’ to her.” 

Now it was a waiting game. Tad and Wendy spent every moment they could at Maggie’s bedside. After a week, Maggie was stable enough for surgery to repair her fractured pelvis. While doctors assured them Maggie would live, they couldn’t predict what her future would hold. Wendy thought, “What if she is not...no longer able to speak clearly or hold a job. Or would she be able to be an adult who is able to earn an income and get married and have a family. All of those thoughts raced through your mind.”

By then, Tad had set up a Caring Bridge page to post updates on Maggie. Prayers and encouragement came pouring in. Tad says, “The people that came alongside of us were such a part of this story and such a big part of Maggie's recovery, we just can't thank them enough.”

By the end of three weeks, Maggie had been brought out of her coma and was stable enough to fly home. Psychiatrist and brain trauma specialist, Doctor Bob Sevenich, was on the team that took over Maggie’s care in Minneapolis. Dr. Sevenich recalls, “When I first saw her, she was quite cognitively impaired. She was semi awake, and she was answering yes, no questions, inconsistently, even fairly simple questions. People that have traumatic brain injuries often have ongoing difficulties with walking, with moving, with coordination, all those sorts of things.”

However, Maggie would begin defying the odds, making great strides in physical therapy and on August 7th she was up and walking. Wendy recalls, “She stood up out of that wheelchair and we walked her out of the hospital. And it was just the most beautiful thing.” Maggie recalls, “It felt so freeing to walk after I've been sitting around for months.”

Although she was improving physically, Maggie’s emotional and mental healing took longer. Maggie recalls, “I just couldn't join my friends with a lot of things. And I found that that was very isolating and very confusing. That led to me asking God a lot of questions of why, why is this happening to me? Why, why, why am I alone? It was very, it was a very isolating time. I was wondering why God had taken my running, my academics, my social life, my, my ability to really do anything, to be a normal, to be a normal student. Romans 8:28 was a real encouragement during this time. ‘God works all things for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his will.'"

Those words would come true. That Fall, with therapy, hard work, and a lot of prayer, Maggie returned to college and was soon running again. A year after the accident, after working through her emotional and mental challenges, Maggie was back in Spain as an exchange student. In May of 2016, she graduated from college on time. Dr. Sevenich says, “The accident was quite severe, and I think it surprised a lot of the providers, the medical professionals both in Spain and here, how rapid her recovery was and how well she did considering the injuries that she sustained.”

Married in 2019, Maggie went on to accomplish even more. Since then, she has competed in three Ironman Triathlons. In 2023 she placed 100 out of 2000 women. As in everything, she gives God the glory. Tad says, “It is just amazing what God has done in her life, how she can use her story, um, to help others learn about Jesus and about God and how He can take the worst of events and turn them into incredible blessings.”

Wendy says, “Be in the word, know the Lord Jesus in such a way that you can stand on His foundation of truth when the storm comes. It's not just a pat answer to say, that is where you go to for strength.”

And Maggie says, “I'm grateful that the accident happened and that, and that He did, He did turn what was initially meant for evil to something beautiful. All the things that happened to me, God did mean it for good and God brought so much good from it. Keep the faith that God is with you and that God wants the best for you.”

Maggie's father has written a book about this miraculous healing and it can be found at www.25meters.com.