Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
Take a trip with the Morning JoyRide®️ as Melody discusses the humorous side of real issues facing families today.
Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
Surviving the Shark Attack: Tiffany Johnson’s Miraculous Story
Wendy Bundy talks with Tiffany Johnson, who survived a shark attack in the Bahamas—and shares how, even in the darkest moments, she saw God’s miraculous power and felt His presence every step of the way.
So on this episode of Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises, Wendy Bundy, who works here at Joy FM and so beautifully does what is called community matters, was able to sit down with Tiffany Johnson, who suffered a shark attack while she was on vacation in the Bahamas. But what the devil meant to kill, steal, and destroy, God has taken and shown his glory, his miracles, his hope, peace, and love. And that has birthed a testimony that has been shared across the nation and the world of the power of God and what it means to be an overcomer through Christ. So Wendy was able to sit down with Tiffany and talk about and through her story and how God walked her through one of the most difficult times of her life. Here's that interview now.
SPEAKER_01:Hi, this is Wendy, your host for Community Matters here on Joy FM, and today we're going to be sharing a story with you about survival, strength, and service. So I have here with me today Miss Tiffany Johnson, and she is here to talk to us about her ministry, Be an Overcomer, and how the ministry has helped others become stronger in their faith. I want to thank you so much for being here today. I am looking forward to hearing you tell us about your story. I've already heard it once, but I'm super excited to hear it again. Absolutely. Well, I'm excited to be here. So listeners, I just wanted to let you know that I met Miss Tiffany at our women's conference at our church, and she was just such a powerful speaker and an inspiration to me personally. I knew that I had to have her on community matters to tell us all about her ministry because her goal aligns with mine, and that is we want to inspire others and we want to help others keep our eyes on Jesus no matter what the situation. I heard you that day, my eyes were just focused on you, my ears were focused on you. I'ma just stand here for once and not say a word, which is really hard for me to do, and just let you share your story about how God got you through everything.
SPEAKER_02:Amen. Well, thank you for the opportunity to be a blessing and to share it again. I just celebrated eight years of having a second chance. So eight years ago on June 2nd, my husband and I were on vacation, just the two of us were very intentional about getting away with just us two amidst raising kids. So we've been doing that year after year, and that trip eight years ago was just that. The last stop, we were on a cruise, so that last stop was Nassau, Bahamas. We got off the boat, no hesitation, knew right away we needed to snorkel because we hadn't done it this vacation yet. We love snorkeling and we knew Bahamas is good for snorkeling. We had been snorkeling there before. So when we got off the boat, we just went and found the local, you know, vendors to barter for the good deal. I love a good deal. I don't know about you guys, but I heard that's what you do on cruises.
SPEAKER_01:You barter for good deals.
SPEAKER_02:It is amazing because we can't do that here in the US. So I take every opportunity to find a good deal. So we went and chatted with the locals, found a good package where we could do parasailing and snorkeling. We did the parasailing first, amazing. It was an incredible experience, and I'm glad we did that first because I got to experience it. So then we went out to the snorkel site after that, and we were on a really small boat. There was only two other people with us, and then the captain. So four total plus the captain. We went out to the snorkel site. It was about five to seven-minute boat ride from Paradise Island, which is kind of the main hub of the Nassau tourism. So laid anchor there, the captain kind of gestured to the waters like this entire area is full of reef. And my husband and I were excited because we were ready. You know, we hadn't snorkeled yet, so we were ready. Jump in, no hesitation. We start pointing things out to each other. And it's incredible because when you look at the ocean through that vantage point, it's like you're in a whole different world. You know, you get to see the fish interact, the different species, the colors, the coral, how they move in between. It's just amazing. It's like watching God's creation in action. You know, it's different than an aquarium because you're watching them in their natural setting. So we're just enjoying that, pointing things out. And it was a good 20 minutes or so. And I remember I kind of got lost in the world just watching everything. And all of a sudden I noticed my husband was swimming above the water, headed back to the boat. You know, I'm like, well, what's going on? So I popped my head up. I'm like, hey, is everything okay? And I knew he had been dealing with an upset stomach because that boat ride out was pretty choppy and he doesn't deal with good, you know, if it's not good and huge, if it's a small boat and he feels those waves, he's he can be a mess. Already a little seasick. Yes. So I already knew that, but when I yelled out to him, he he turned to me and he was like, Yeah, I gotta go back to the boat. It's not getting any better. And I knew what that meant because he had done that the year before. Right. So I'm like, okay, you go do that, take care of you. I'm gonna stay out here because it had only been 20 minutes. Right. You know, so that wasn't long enough. So I just put my face back under the water and just began to enjoy God's creation again. We figured it had only been just a couple of minutes, 10 minutes at most, from the time that my husband left me to the time I felt like all of a sudden I had slammed into something. Now it should have been a red flag because I wasn't around anything. Everything that I was around was below me, but there was no sense of fear or urgency. The fish were still interacting the very same way. It's not like all of a sudden they scattered and went everywhere, you know, and try to hide. They were all still interacting and looking normal. And so when I felt like I slammed into something, there was no cause for concern. So I was so nonchalant. I kind of turned to my right to see what I had bumped into, and I was face to face with the shark. And he had my whole arm in his mouth. That's the bump I felt was him latching on. I have a scar. It's probably what, maybe three, four inches from the top of my shoulder of where he first bit me. So if you can think, you know, we are face to face. And of course, fear just takes over. Yeah. My mind just starts reeling of all of the memories of my life. Like it's like little movie clips start playing of these memories. I s I remember my kids playing in the backyard with my husband, like pieces of my life were flashing before my eyes. And time stood still, but yet it felt so warped at the same time. It was just like I was caught in this weird conundrum. And I felt a releasing, like my body felt, I felt like I was giving up. Like this was it. But then I felt the strength of the Lord come out from inside of me and give me the will to fight back. And I remember pushing those thoughts aside. And the new thought that formed was, no, you will not take my life. I'm not gonna die here. At that, I yanked and I got some of my arm out, but that's when he bit down and began to fight and thrash, you know. And I'm just screaming through my snorkel tube. But y'all know snorkel tubes, you know, they're in your mouth, so you can't really utter words. So it's just like you know, sound. Nothing that would alert anybody. And in fact, I found out later that the boat, everybody on the boat, was distracted because my husband had gotten sick on the boat. The captain's washing that up. My husband's in the water, you know, cleaning himself off. The two that were with us were trying to get out of the way. So there was all this distraction happening. Nobody knew that I was fighting for my life just a few hundred feet away.
SPEAKER_01:So you literally was between you, a shark, and God.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes. And I remember, you know, trying to get free from him, but he had me pinned. Yeah, you know, so I'm screaming, yanking, and at one of the points, you know, I'm yanking and my arm kind of comes flying out, his jaws open, and I and I look and I am just stunned because my arm is completely severed. It wasn't hanging there. He had completely taken half of my arm. It was just this mangled stump. And I remember just in shock for a second, like, my my arm's gone. But I was still in the face of this thing, and God gave me the presence of mind to keep moving. You know, so I was already at the surface of the water. So all I had to do was pick my head up and throw my snorkel mask off. And I screamed, help, help me, Jesus. And I began to make my way back to the boat swimming. I I lost my not my dominant hand. So my non-dominant hand, I'm using that quickly, you know, to get to the sh the boat. But I remember taking a few strokes and I felt the voice of the Lord say, Get your injured arm out of the water. And so I I raised my severed arm out of the water, and it is literally just shooting blood everywhere. And that was the signal to the boat of what had happened. So my husband, he said he was getting up out of the water, you know, coming up the ladder, disoriented, nauseous. You know, he had just thrown up three times in a row. Right, not feeling good. You know how that feels. And he said that's when he heard my frantic cry, and he turned, and that's the sight he saw was me swimming back with my arms severed, spewing blood everywhere. And I remember locking eyes with him, and the terror I saw is like nothing I will ever forget. It was just sheer terror. And he screamed out, baby, and he jumps into the water. And, you know, I'm just swimming as quickly as I can, thinking that shark is right behind me. He's gonna grab my leg, grab my side, grab my other arm, you know, and I'm just focused on the boat, like God get me to that boat. And I'm praying in the Holy Spirit. Like I I literally had no other words. It was just pouring out of me. And I'm just quickly trying to get to the boat. And I remember my husband kind of met me in the water. We were only just a few feet off from the boat at that point. So I made it most of the way, and he kind of just guided me that last few feet. The captain threw out a rope and I'm using it quickly to get in. And I could barely grab the ladder of the boat, and my husband just kind of launches me from underneath, you know, to get me out of the water as quickly as possible. And the captain kind of grabbed my left arm and I just like hit the boat seat. And the minute I hit that boat, oh, the peace of the Lord just surrounded me like a cloud. Like I could feel his presence. It was thick and tangible. Like it makes me want to weep now, thinking about his presence so strong. And I could feel his peace. And I I looked at my husband and I was urgent, but I wasn't losing it. I wasn't desperate. Like I just knew the urgency of the situation, and I told him, get me something to stop the bleeding. He's like frantic, his eyes are like golf balls. You know, he is not feeling the peace that I'm feeling, right? He's like, How are you so calm? Yes. And we when we've recalled it to each other after the fact, he's like, I I could see it on you, but I was just a mess. Like he's thinking, you know, what do we, what do we have to stop the bleeding? And I I look at him, I'm like, hey, the beach towel that the cruise line gives us, you know, these big bulky beach towels, and I saw it sitting out of our bag, you know, and so I'm like, go grab that beach towel. Because we find out there's no tourniquet. Wow. There's no med kit. So, you know, he grabs this beach towel and kind of throws it and it just lands on my arm. And I'm like, no, no, no, you've got to tie it up. He's he's clueless, just just for out of it, really.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, he's trying to figure out what he's probably trying to figure out what happened. Yes. Like in his mind, he's like, I gotta take care of her. What happened in this whole thing?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes. Like he's just completely out of it. And so I walk him through how to tourniquet my arm, if you will, with this bulky beach top. Did you even know how to do that from the beginning? Well, I was a phlebotomist back in my college days. And so I dealt with tourniquets not in this way. I never really had official first aid training of any sort, but I knew how a tourniquet worked and what it was used for, and that's about it. But the but this towel is not a tourniquet at all, you know. And so I remember telling my husband multiple times, you've got to get it tighter. Like, do it as tight as you possibly can. You're not gonna hurt me. Because I could feel the blood like gushing down my arm, even after he had it like cinched, so to speak. And so he got to the point where he was shaking, trying to keep that thing so tight. And I had my arm elevated up, and I told him, keep my arm elevated. I'm gonna lay my head on your lap. And I just remember closing my eyes because honestly, the entire boat was my blood. It was everywhere, and it looked like a murder scene. So I just had to close my eyes and focus on Jesus, you know. And the captain had pulled up the anchor in the midst of this and was like wheeling the boat around as quick as possible. And like I said, we were only a five to seven-minute boat ride from Paradise Island. So we just, you know, jetted to that island, basically beached the boat, were yelling out for help. It would everybody was very disoriented on land. They were so confused. You know, we were using all these words like shark attack, 911, ambulance, hospital, you know, anything to explain we need something urgently. And finally, somebody yelled back from the shore and they said, You're gonna have to take her to the main port. There's no hospital on Nassau, because Nassau is where all the touristy stuff is, you know, it's where the resort is, not where the locals live. They live at the main port. And so we had to back the boat out and go 20 minutes around. I bet that was the longest 20 minutes of your life. Yes. I mean, I remember when we backed up, I had this sinking feeling. Like, I know, you know, I had already made it that, you know, let's say three, four minutes. Right. And I knew, you know, if you like cut yourself in the wrong area, you could bleed out in two and a half minutes. Oh, most definitely, yes. And so that knowledge of, you know, just basic medical knowledge is like reeling through my head, and I'm thinking, I don't I don't know how this is gonna work. You know? And so I literally started praying some audacious prayers, you know, God would you sustain me. And I remember in praying, I remember praying specific things. It was as if he took over my tongue and was praying through me. And I remember praying for my kids at the time. My kids were young. I had a five-year-old, a three-year-old, and a one-year-old. And I remember just praying over their minds, God, help them to understand, protect their minds, God. You know, I prayed over my husband that he would have the wisdom to work through what was needed to make the right decisions medically. Right. You know, I was usually the logistical one. So, you know, I'm praying this wisdom over him. I prayed over the doctors that they would have supernatural wisdom to know how to take care of my arm, that God would use them. And then I remember praying, God, would you use this? Don't make this be in vain. And so every time I get to share about this story, I think about that prayer in that boat just moments after it happened because I see him using it. And it has been a journey, but he has used every bit of it. And it is amazing to see that prayer being answered now.
SPEAKER_01:That was the first thing that blew my mind listening to you. And when you got to that point, I'm like, she's already thinking about how this is going to be used, and I'd be sitting there thinking, how am I gonna survive the 20 minutes? Oh my goodness, I'm gonna have to go through this and all the pain and this and and I would I would not even be thinking that whatever. And that right there just let me know that God was truly with you through that whole entire thing, and then to help you stay strong in that moment of thinking ahead and how he can use this is just incredible to me because we get so lost in our circumstances and so lost in what's going on around us and and what's going on to us that sometimes it's hard to pull our head up out of that and say, Lord, you know, you said Lord help me right off the bat. You're you're swimming back to the boat saying, Lord, help me. You're not even saying, Hey, husband help me or boat people help me. You're already saying, Lord, help me. Yeah. And then knowing that you have to go another 20 minutes and you're still, you still have that mindset, that is what really touched my heart the most when you said that. It literally jerked my head up out of my circumstances.
SPEAKER_02:It it just proves that the Lord, He is with us when we need Him, you know. I know there's so many verses that talk about that. And I think we can point our finger to things in our life as we recount, you know, our circumstances. And this is one of those circumstances because in the natural, I am not strong. I I don't personally know how I prayed those prayers. I don't know how my mind was that clear to be so specific. I didn't I don't have the foresight like that, you know. But with the Lord, he is in us, you know, using those circumstances. And it says in his word that he's he intercedes for us, you know. Exactly. And so I feel like that is just proof right there. Like, yeah, not nobody in the natural is gonna be doing that, you know. But that is the perfect example of that, yes. But the Lord, he intercedes, and I that's why I feel like the Lord just took hold of my tongue and did it, you know, because I am not that person, you know. But thank goodness that he is for us and that he is with us. And I felt that wholeheartedly. Even as we approached the port, you know, I'm still awake, alert. You know, we had that 20-minute boat ride, but I still knew what was going on. I remember the captain having to yell out again because there was nobody that radioed ahead to let them know we were coming. And so it was again a whole ordeal to get people's attention. And then I remember hearing the sounds of the ambulance finally coming, you know, and I'm like, okay, we're we're almost there, you know. And just being able to then, you know, get out of the boat. They, you know, they get me on the gurney, they're up into the ambulance. And I was so I had such a presence of mind that I was hearing all the conversations and even interjecting. I always like to tell the story because my husband's like, this just proves that it's you, you know, you're just crazy with all your details. But we were I was sitting there, you know, they're they're unwrapping the beach towel. That's when I first felt pain. So, you know, you if you do the calculation, it had been at least probably 30 minutes.
SPEAKER_01:I was gonna say, yeah. You know, at least 30.
SPEAKER_02:30, we're probably pushing 40 minutes before they start unwrapping that beach towel to put a proper tourniquet on it. So I hadn't felt pain until that point. And when they started unwrapping the beach towel, that's when every ounce of my being just shook. Like it was a pain that I can't even really describe, other than like it made me involuntary scream out. Like I it was radiating through my whole body. And, you know, they're you know, they're trying to work on getting it situated so that they could put a proper tourniquet on it because I was still bleeding. And and I remember hearing the conversation right outside the ambulance doors. My husband's, you know, standing there. The ambulance driver's like, hey, we've got two hospitals we can take her to. We've got a private hospital or a public hospital. Which one do you want to take her to? And my husband's like, just take her to the closest one, you know. And I removed my oxygen mask and I said, make sure they take our insurance.
SPEAKER_01:That was the funny. I was we all laughed at that because that would definitely be something I would not be thinking about.
SPEAKER_02:My husband's like, of course, of course, you know, you would say that in the midst of all this, but like my mom brain doesn't turn off, you know. And so he just turns and is like, yeah, whatever she said, you know? And so it just goes to show you like the Lord had taken hold of me. Like, I feel like 2 Timothy 1.7 was really just coming alive in me. I was not operating in a spirit of fear, I was operating in power, love, and I had a sound mind, you know, like so. Here we are, you know, and we get to the emergency room. They had taken me to the trauma unit. They had the entire trauma unit lined up, waiting for me to come in. And every person's facial expressions was jaw wide open in shock watching me roll by. And I was thinking, what do they do they not know how to deal with trauma? Like what this shouldn't be a surprise. Like it was definitely not the face of confidence. You know, I I knew I was in my life was in their hands, right? You know, and so I'm just like, whoa, I it just stunned me, and it was chaos in that room. Like people were bumping into each other, they were arguing over what to do. It was as if they they really didn't know what to do, you know. They never experienced that before. I'm assuming I don't know. I I just I know that they were not equipped, they were beautiful, amazing, kind people, but they just were not equipped, not like we see here in the US. Right. And so it was quite a mess. And I remember it got so chaotic at one point. The supervisor of the staff who had introduced herself to me earlier had yelled out and said, You guys, settle down. Do you see her? She is calm. You're gonna make her anxious. And I remember thinking, like, how am I the one setting the example? Like, this is craziness, you know? And of course, fear tries to creep in at that moment, you know, because I'm seeing this chaos in front of me, but yet I'm feeling his peace. And so it was just this like warring right there. You know, I had a choice to make, and the fear tried to leak its way in. And, you know, I'm I'm thinking now they don't know what they're doing. I'm gonna get out of the water, but now I'm gonna die on the operation table, you know, like and I'm the calm one in this situation. And I'm the one setting the example. Like it, it was not at all what you would picture, like a put together, you know, emergency room staff, you know. And so there was no confidence there. And I remember just starting to have those thoughts, but it says in 2 Corinthians to take the thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. And that's that's what I did in that moment. I like literally pushed the thought back. And I'm like, God, I know you're here because I can feel you. So I trust you. I don't trust this because I don't trust it all.
SPEAKER_01:This is gonna be hard to try. Yes. Yes, but I trust you. I promise you.
SPEAKER_02:I trust you, and I know you you're here with me. So I'm just gonna focus on you. And that was what kind of got me in the right frame of mind to really focus on Jesus.
SPEAKER_01:I'm gonna be honest, I'm at loss for words because I can only imagine the chaos, and you you're like, oh, I'm in a hospital, everything's gonna be good, and it's like, wait, hold on. You're in the hospital, chaos is around you, and you're the only calm person. Can you tell us what happened from that point?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so at that point, they took me into a five and a half hour surgery, and the doctors did the best that they could do. In fact, those were their words to my husband when we came out of surgery was, you know, we did what we can do, but her arm is still in rough shape. We had to put a drain in it, we couldn't even fully close it because it's so swollen. And they said, You're gonna have to take her to the US immediately because we're there's only so much we can do here, and we've done all we can do, you know. Which I was thankful that they made that call because had they tried to do what they couldn't do, I would have probably lost more of my arm. And so they made the right call. They made the right call. Of course, that is not the news you want coming out of surgery, you know, that my husband receives.
SPEAKER_01:But that goes to show you, like right there, it literally just dawned on me that even at the moment that you weren't conscious, God was still there with you because he had put it in their minds to say, hey, they didn't want to mess it up any further.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then that you needed to go somewhere better. Right.
SPEAKER_02:And and remember, I prayed for the physicians to give them wisdom, you know? And so I that was pure wisdom. Answered prayer. It wasn't answered prayer because not a lot of doctors are willing to say, sorry, I did the best I could do, but this is beyond my capabilities. I mean, normally doctors don't want to admit that, you know. But that was exactly what he was saying to my husband. And I remember when my husband was telling me all of this, he said that he had asked the doctors in that moment about the blood transfusion because he was very concerned. Obviously, we're not in the US. This isn't necessarily third world, you know, but it's darn close, you know. And so we he was a bit concerned about the blood, how much blood I lost, you know, all of that, what what that would mean, you know. His his thoughts were just kind of reeling. So he asked, you know, how much blood did she lose? And the doctor just stood there for a second and he said, Mr. Johnson, that's the part we can't explain. You see, she didn't lose enough blood to require a blood transfusion, so we didn't have to give her any blood. That's a God thing. And my husband literally said he was just he didn't have words. And my husband is very, very talkative, very, you know, like he's a people person. So for him to not have words is huge. And it was just, he was in utter shock because we had gone, I mean, think about this what, 30 minutes to a proper tourniquet, you know, to get to actual help. All I had was a beach towel to sustain me. And we all know that beach towels aren't made like tourniquets, they're not rubber, they don't cinch very well, they just soak up things, you know. And so every medical person that I've talked to that has any kind of background in medical, they all say, Tiffany, you don't understand, like you should have died on that boat. You shouldn't have even made it to the hospital. You might not have even you were lucky to make it even out of the water. Right. Like the amount, I mean, the amount of blood that was gushing out of my arm, he had severed it completely. And so for me to go a 30-minute boat ride with not a proper tourniquet is insane. But then, like, God took it a step further just to say, you know, this cannot be explained any other way. Like, I am in this, you know. It was like his little signature, you know, and he took it a step further and sustained me so much that I didn't even require a blood transfusion. Like, it it doesn't make sense in the natural. And every person, even that that own physician, just said, like, we can't explain it. She she's a miracle, you know. And in in fact, that physician, that surgeon that performed my surgery in the Bahamas, he actually came back into my room the next day to talk with me. He had told me all night he was thinking about me. Like he just he could not shake the fact that something was different. And he actually called me an angel. He's like, I I think you might be an angel. I'm like, no, what you're experiencing is Jesus, you know, and I got to like tell him about the Lord in the midst of that. Like he really thought like something's something, and he said, I even told my wife, like, something's different about her. Like something, you know, he just couldn't shake it. And it that to me is just such an amazing confirmation of what the Lord can do in the midst of things. Like, you know, I didn't choose anything, I'm just there, you know, doing the going through the motions, you know, relying on Jesus, of course, but like I'm not anything special. But the Lord's presence was so thick and tangible that he he didn't know how to put it into words, but he could recognize it. And I mean, isn't that what God's called us to be? Like we're we're supposed to be saturated with him, you know? And so it's just it brings me to my knees in just adoration of who he is because I am so undeserving of that. But to know that he used me in that way is just an honor. And so, you know, we we were faced with just a crazy decision after we had gotten out of the surgery. We realized, you know, there's no way for me to get back to the US immediately. We were without our passports because we cruised in, and you don't have to cruise with a passport, you know, you can cruise with a birth certificate and driver's license. My passport had expired, so I just I had done that, and my husband never had a passport, so he's, you know, he's that's all he has. And so when that cruise left that evening, yeah, we were stuck there. You had a lot of obstacles just right off the bat. Yes. And it was quite an ordeal to facilitate this next steps because we had found out that on the day the shark attack happened, it was on a Friday, that was a national holiday for the Bahamas. So the US Embassy was closed, the customs was closed, and so and they're always closed over the weekend, and then they were closed for an extended holiday on Monday. And so I remember the Ministry of Tourism is a department that they have in in Nassau. The representative had come to the hospital midday on Saturday and was like, listen, we have tried everything, but there's no way that you're gonna get out of here until Tuesday. Oh, and you know, this is Saturday. And I remember thinking, I don't know if I'm gonna last until Tuesday, you know, because I was in so much pain. They could only give me morphine, which is a great option for about an hour. Right. Then it wears off and there was nothing in between. And so I was in pain beyond recognition, like just it was awful. And I remember telling my husband when she left, I'm like, that is not good enough. I cannot go until Tuesday. So then we began to just try to figure out what we can do to help try to facilitate this where we could get out of here sooner. And my pastor had called my husband to check in. We'd give him this update. We're like, our our first and foremost prayer request is to get me back to the US promptly. They're telling me I can't get back until Tuesday. And you know, my pastor's like, well, that's not good enough. I'm like, that's exactly what I said, you know? So he's like, we will come in an agreement and be praying that the Lord would direct the path that's needed, you know. Right. And so he hung up and I find out later he has a conversation with his wife, and he's like, Don't we know somebody that used to like charter planes, you know, that could maybe they could help? So gets a hold of that person, and that person, all their pilots had timed out for the day. You know, he's like, But I can put you in touch with the MedVAC, which is next door, the hangar next door. Potentially they, you know, they could get involved, you know. And so he puts them in touch with that. We start down that train. We find out, you know, the medvac person, she has a contact in Nassau because that Nassau guy has a fiance that lives in Charlotte. Oh, and he comes up frequently to visit his fiance and had made connections with the Medvac people in Charlotte just two months before this happened. And so she knows. Knows exactly who to call. And so she gets a hold of Nico. Nico has already been working on it, but kind of just like is at a loss, you know, just keeps hitting Roebok after Robach. So the two of them start working together, and it's like God starts opening up the doors, the mountains get moved. They're able to get me on a medvac flight that goes from Nassau straight to Charlotte, which I heard from Nico that that is unheard of. Like in the 15 years in this business, he had never seen a medvac flight go anywhere but to Miami because it has to go to the closest port of entry. If it's truly a medvac, you know, that needs a situation that would require a medvac. And so he's like, I don't know who did what to authorize for you to go all the way to Charlotte. But I'm like, God did it. Of course he did, because I was praying, get me home. Not get me to Miami, you know. Like, what am I gonna do in Miami? You know, how am I still gonna have to go home? I would still have to be home, you know? And so the Lord was so intricate in the details. And in all of this craziness of trying to figure this out, we come across the fact that we can't get this pre-approved through the insurance. And so Nico tells us, listen, we're talking about a$37,000 flight. I just want to make sure that you guys are prepared. Like if they come back and deny it, is that gonna be okay? And my husband's like, I'm not gonna put a price tag on getting her back, like we'll figure that out on the back end, you know. Okay, that's something if God's gonna take care of this, he's gonna take care of it. He's gonna take care of it, you know, and he wasn't even worried about it. Of course,$37,000 is not something we just have laying around, but you know, he was not worried about it in the moment. And Nico ended up calling back a little while later, and he said, Okay, we've got all the policeman play, and Mr. Johnson, I just want you to know that I'm gonna foot the bill for Charlotte to come down and pick you up. We'll try to submit it to insurance, but if they come back and deny it, you will not owe me a penny. Wow. And my husband, like, he couldn't even he just dropped to his knees. He's weeping. And of course, I'm in the bed, like only hearing one side of the conversation because he's on the phone and I'm like, what is happening? You know, why are you crying? And he gets the gets off the phone and he's like, they're paying for us to get back. I'm like, who? And he's like, this guy, Nico. I'm like, who's Nico? We hadn't even met him. Don't even know who he is. He was willing to put his his livelihood out there to support us like close family, and we hadn't even met him. It was amazing how the Lord had put all these pieces into play. And I got back in Charlotte 6 a.m. Sunday morning when they told me it's impossible, you can't get back till Tuesday. I was actually discharged from Charlotte's hospital on Tuesday.
SPEAKER_01:Really? So you get back on Sunday at six o'clock in the morning, and then you get discharged from Charlotte Hospital on that Tuesday that you were supposed to leave NASA on. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02:Even in that, I was discharged without any antibiotics. I had never fought infection, so they're like, You're good. And that was another huge miracle that my prosthetist had asked, How much of our arm are we gonna lose because of infection? He just assumed because of the nature of everything and all of his experience with traumatic loss like this, it you always fight infection. So he asked that question, and my doctors are like, No, no, she she never fought infection.
SPEAKER_01:So you never had infection, not one time.
SPEAKER_02:No, never. And that's another piece to the miracle that I feel like the Lord just another signature that he put on there. Like there's no explanation but him.
SPEAKER_01:Any animal attack, any bite, a human bite, yeah, an infection from.
SPEAKER_02:And think about the towel, it was touching the innermost part of me, this beach towel, you know, that was laying on a boat. Yes. And I mean, not to mention the Nassau hospital, you know, it was not to the standards that we are used to. So even that, there were so many opportunities for me to fight infection, but that was one one thing the Lord sustained me in again. And so when I was discharged on Tuesday, it was like, well, you're good, you just gotta heal. So then I got home, and that's when the real journey began. You know, it was like from the before that, it's this whirlwind of chaos and trying to figure out all the details to get me home. And you know, like once I was home, it was like, oh, now what? I still have three young kids that still need me as their mom. I'm healing, going through these pain surges that are intense and they would come out of nowhere. I'd be just walking, and all of a sudden it would bring me to my knees, and I would just have to grit my teeth and just scream for like, you know, a few seconds to get through that surge. It was crazy. And I was overwhelmed emotionally, mentally, trying to figure out like how do I do life? You know, I had lost my dominant arm. So not only am I trying to figure out things one-handed, but now I'm almost like fighting against myself because I'm trying to do it left-handed and my brain isn't wired that way. You know, so everything seemed so hard. Even just putting toothpaste on a toothbrush, you know, my toothbrush would flip over and I hit the sink when I was trying to put it on there. And, you know, I couldn't do my hair, I couldn't tie my shoes, I couldn't, I felt so helpless. I couldn't be alone with my children because my youngest was in diapers. I couldn't change diapers. I couldn't change a diaper, yeah. I, you know, I was in so much pain still, I couldn't use my arm like I can now just to even put support on it. I couldn't put any weight on it, you know. So I was truly one-handed and trying to figure out life with the wrong hand, you know? Right. Yeah. So it was, it was overwhelming to say the least in every way. And I would get to points where I would feel all that rush of like anxiety and just like feeling helpless. And I would just go in my room and I would shut the door and I'd put on some worship music and I would get my Bible out and I would just start reading the word because I knew I didn't know how to do this, but I knew where the answers were and I knew what I needed. Reading about the Lord helped give me that confidence. Like, God knows who he is, and he knows who I am, and he knew this this was all gonna happen. So he's equipped me, you know, and it's like you always have to give yourself a pep talk through the word, you know? Yes. And that's what I would do in those moments every time was just I would lean in to God's word and really hone in on what he says and the truth of his word. And so, and there was always, you know, he would always take me to the scriptures exactly what I needed, you know, because that's what he does. I remember in those moments, it was like I understood clearly, I had a choice every single day and every moment in those overwhelming anxiousness when I felt like I couldn't do, I had a choice. I could either focus on all of that and let it overwhelm me and take me down this road of depression and anxiety and PTSD, which is very real. And even for people that are Christians, there are there's struggles in those because it is it is a real struggle every day. You know, I knew I could go and entertain these thoughts, or I could choose joy, I could entertain the thoughts of depression, or I could choose peace, I could entertain the thoughts of helplessness, or I could choose the hope that I have in Jesus. It's like those were moments that I had to choose who God was. And in choosing that, it helped me see that like I do have a choice. Like I don't have to respond with depression or anxiety or stress. Like, yes, I'm gonna feel those emotions, but I don't have to live there. And that re- that revelation really changed everything for me. Because when I got a hold of that truth, half the battle is our minds and how we choose to continue on, you know? And and it's not to say that people that struggle with depression or or anxiety or PTSC that they're not, you know, choosing the Lord. Because the Lord's got different journeys for us all. But what I'm trying to say is we don't have to live in there. We don't have to live in those moments because he's got something better for us. That's the promise of his word. And so if we continue to remind ourselves that God's promises are true and that he has those pieces in play for us, when we start choosing joy instead of the thought of depression, every time it's like it kicks the enemy in the face. Yes, and it gets easier and easier. And pretty soon those thoughts of depression don't even come anymore because we've chosen joy every single time. So it's just it's a practice that we have to get involved with. And that's what I was learning in this journey. And so the Lord really has used that to help me overcome, but then also to share it with others, mean like, hey, this is the secret sauce, you know, like it's not even that hard. Like it seems so simple, but God's word is just it's there. Like we just have to open his word. Yes, and even if you're out and about and you don't have your Bible with you, like we we have Bible apps on our phone, like Google. We're looking at our phones all the time. Yes, and we have the accessibility, it's whether or not we want to put it into practice.
SPEAKER_01:I could listen to you all day and I can hear you tell this again, and when I edit this, I'm gonna be like in the same emotions, but it's it that takes me back to one, all the pep talks that you gave yourself just made the devil mad. Yeah, just it just knocked him out of the way. But it also takes me back to that moment when you were in the hospital in that emergency room and you took your thoughts captive. Yes. We have the power and the authority in us given to us by God to take those thoughts captive. Are we perfect at it? No, no, no. Do we have moments that we slip every day, I'm sure? And that's okay as long as we just grab it back again. Yep, yep. Brush your knees off and get keep going, keep going. Keep going. I had a friend of mine who told me I was going through some stuff and not nearly as as traumatic as yours, but everybody goes through stuff. Absolutely. And the one thing that I always bring my mind to, he said, Don't let the devil steal your joy. Absolutely. Yes. And that when he can do that, he's he's got you just about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. And it's that shift in perspective, right? And so that's what I always share about. And every time that I get to share it, I always make sure that I talk about that piece because it is crucial as Christians for us to understand the power that we do have in Jesus. Like He's given us that authority, He's given us the tools. It's just up to us to put them into practice. And I've heard pastors before be like, you know, doesn't it make you wonder why getting into God's word seems so hard? You know, why why is that so hard for us? Why do we have to fight ourselves sometimes to make time for him? Or to be like, oh, I just don't feel like it. Even though we know even though we know instinctively that's what we need, we know it, but yet it's just like so hard. And the answer is it's because Satan doesn't want you to know God's word. He doesn't want you to be equipped, he doesn't want you to figure these pieces out because if you do, then you cannot be stopped. And so his disarming is to have you just kind of forget about God's word, try to do it in your own strength, and you're gonna fail because you aren't God and you can't, you know, work these things out in your own strength. And so he's easily disarms us because we're not willing to just do exactly what we know we should do. And so, and I'm speaking, I'm preaching to the choir. I go through moments where I've gotta tell myself again, and I still to this day have to tell myself, Tiffany, get in his words. I'm not great at it on a daily practice. I try, but there are times when I make excuses or the day goes on and and by and then all of a sudden I'm in bed and I'm like, shoot. But so I'm just as guilty, but I'm just I'm saying it for my own self, even for if it's not for anybody else. We've gotta understand the power that we have. And I think now more than ever, God is equipping his people to stand for righteousness and to be that light. And if we don't know his word, we really aren't gonna be standing on much of anything. You know, we're gonna be standing on yes, and we're gonna be standing on a pastor's sermon that's not gonna get you through. No. Like you've got to know his word inside and out, and that's what will propel you to be effective for his kingdom.
SPEAKER_01:People would always say when you start your day, do you start it off with God's word, or do you just get up out of the bed, or you just pick up your phone and look at what happened at Facebook last night? And I would pick up my phone and be like, What time is it? But I started before I would even get out of bed, I would go to the the Bible app that I have on my phone and at least, if anything, read the verse of the day. Yeah, yep. And I don't have my glasses on, but it's funny how I still see it. Yeah. I can still read it. Yeah. That has helped me in so many ways.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's just simple things that we can do. And once we start utilizing those tools, I'm telling you, you're gonna see a difference. You may not see a difference in your circumstance, right? Because in my case, I'm still an amputee. I still am missing my arm. I'm still navigating life with one arm. That situation hasn't changed, but what has is my perspective, and that's the piece that we get to control. So we gotta use the tools that God's given us.
SPEAKER_01:And He has definitely given you tools, given you perspective. I am learning things through you and from you. I can't even think about words right now because I'm just like learning so much. You had so much that happened to you just instantly at one time, just like bam, bam, bam, thing after thing after, and God was with you and you recognize that, and yet through the other side of the worst part of it, and you still realize you haven't let him go. You still need him, he's still getting you through, he's still getting you through life. You may have other issues, you have issues probably. I'm sure now that's popped up or come up that you still are having to go through and deal with, you're still keeping that perspective, keeping your eye and keeping your focus on God.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes. You know, we're gonna face challenges in our life. That's what John talked about when he said, In this world, you will you will have trouble. Like he promised it, right? But everybody has their own type of trouble. Yes, but the second part of that verse is the key, right? But take heart, for I have overcome the world. That's what Jesus said. And if he's overcome the world, and greater is he that's in us, then guess what? We can overcome too.
SPEAKER_01:So that verse, take your thought captive. Yes. How are you now, and how are things going for you and your family?
SPEAKER_02:We've pretty much established what the new normal looks like. You know, that was kind of our mantra at the very beginning. Um, I remember telling my husband, you know, how overwhelmed I felt. And one of the things he said back to me was, we're just gonna establish what our new normal is. And that was pre-COVID, and COVID stole that phrase. I will just say I should have trademarked it because it was mine. But that's honestly what we did. We had to establish what the new normal looked like, and that has been a challenge in some ways, and in other ways, so beautiful. It's brought my husband and I very close. You know, he is a rock star, honestly. He already helped around the house and such, but he's taken it to another level because there's things that I either can't do or it takes me so long to do them that it's frustrating, and he just takes that angst out, you know, and just does it and with no complaints, you know, he's just he's been my rock, honestly. I I'm like tearing up thinking how God made him for me and for these moments, you know. We should have had him on here today. He doesn't get interviewed enough, honestly. Maybe next week. Part four. But um honestly, he's he's amazing. And so just he had to learn a lot as a dad with two girls that I couldn't do their hair anymore, you know. So even those practical pieces that you kind of don't think about, you know, you're faced with that when you're like the everyday routines of things when they're young, like they are, they were now they're getting older, but like they were, they can't do their own hair, you know? And so just even uh trying to explain how to do a ponytail. Have you ever tried to do that without showing somebody? It's like speaking a foreign language to him. He had no clue, you know? I might as well be speaking Mandarin, and so he just was like deer in the headlights, had no idea. And so we had to look up YouTube videos and all these things to help him, and you know, and I'm helping him, but I have one hand and I can't do everything with this one hand, you know. So we learned how to even do hairstyles together. We learned how to braid. Like I taught him how to braid and I would do one strand and he would do two, and I would walk him through and we'd braid together, you know. Wow. So we've just established those routines of things of how to do things together. Sometimes he's just doing, you know, picking up a slack and doing it. My kids have jumped in and and done things, especially as they've gotten older. So it's, you know, family dynamic of things has really it's changed, but it's been a good change, you know. It's brought us very close. We talk about my story and what has happened on the regular. Honestly, we refer to it a lot because it's what propels us. When there's moments where we feel frustrated as a family or say, you know, my daughter's struggling with something, we point back to look what God has done. And so it's always we're very open about it. Now, for the first two years, we didn't tell our kids exactly what happened because they were young, you know. Remember, they were a year old, three, one, you know. And um, at the time, it was too much. And I really felt like that the Lord had given us that wisdom to protect their minds. And so we just told them enough for them to understand mama had an accident, lost her arm, but we kind of just left it at that. And of course, you know, there are kids, so they're asking questions, especially my son. He's very inquisitive, you know, so his mind was always real in, especially in the early days. We never lied, we would just say, if it got too much in the weeds, we'd just say, bud, you don't have to worry about that. All we need to worry about is that Jesus saved me and I'm here and alive. That's all really that matters. And it does. That's all that really matters, you know. So we would just kind of that's how we would operate for the first two years, and then right around the second year anniversary, I felt a piece about telling them the story. At that point, I had been sharing it pretty regularly, speaking at multiple events. The news and media had a heyday for quite some time, you know, especially pillar. Yeah, the months after, you know, for almost a solid year, I was on so many witness. So many. I mean, it was it was wild. I never once did we put our name out there and contact people and say, hey, you gotta listen to this crazy story, even though it was a crazy story. The word got out, and I really believe that the reason for that was because God was using it. You know, it was just a way for him to get his name out there. And with every interview, I made sure I spoke about the Lord in some way, shape, or form. And I and I would even tell them going into him, like, hey, I'm you're talking about Jesus and how he saved me. And if you can't put that in the story, then we really don't have anything to talk about because it's his story, you know. And so I wanted to make sure God was honored every single time. That was definitely a time of witnessing and being able to use the platform that God had opened to speak his name, you know, in places that wouldn't normally. Yes. Yeah, iHeartRadio and, you know, the Today Show and you know, the Discovery Channel, like all these crazy places. And so we watched God kind of use all of that. But at that two year year mark is when we kind of decided, okay, it's time to tell our kids. And so we told them about what had happened. I just literally just laid it out for them, just like I did for you all. And it was like an aha moment, like, oh yeah, that makes sense, you know. It wasn't this dramatic, of course, it's it was a little bit to take in, but it wasn't as dramatic as it could have been. It wasn't as detrimental because they had seen me for two years live life, go back to a normal of sorts, you know, choose joy, choose peace, you know, um, work through the things, and they, you know, I'm all right. So it wasn't as hard to take the news when they see that, like, but I'm here. You're here, you know. And you're doing life, and you're good. Yes. And so I think that why the Lord had us kind of do it in that way, and it really did protect their minds. And so I'm really grateful for his wisdom in that. We really had to just keep going. And in all of that, like I said, God was opening up opportunities for me to speak. Actually, the very first time I spoke about it outside of the news at a church was a little over a month later. There was a local church in the kind of outskirts of Raleigh area, and they got a hold of me because they were doing a, you know, July is like shark month now. Like shark week anymore. Yeah, I was supposed to say. So, you know, July's the popular time. I didn't know they had a whole month now. Oh man, it is, it's ongoing. You know, they were doing a series to kind of play off of that. They heard my story hit the news, and so they reached out and they were like, hey, we don't know what frame of mind you're in, if this is even anything you're interested in, but we had to ask, like, would you be willing to come and speak? And I'm like, yes. And they're like, Wonderful, you know, I got to share the story in a church service for the first time, like a little over a month after. That really was the unlocking that happened because I remember they give an altar call at the end. Does anybody need the Lord? You know, you saw what Tiffany had gone through. Do you need him like that? And there was a a rush of people raising their hands. And I I remember just weeping, thinking, if God can use a shark attack to give somebody eternity in heaven, then it's all worth it. I remember like standing on that stage just in awe of how he could use a shark attack and seeing, okay, God, I'm in this. Like, you do whatever you need to do. I will do whatever. You know, like I was yes, yes, yes, you know, and it wasn't for my glory. I just saw what he was doing and I was willing to just tell the story. And so that's really what it's been about. And that's kind of how Be an Overcomer Ministry started was me just telling my story and God using it and it just happening over and over again. Pretty soon, we're like, maybe we should put a name to this, you know? Maybe we should make it official. You know, if people contact me, I really probably should have something to give to them. And so we just began to take it to the Lord and be like, okay, God, is this just for a season or do we, is this something you want us to do? And we felt Him calling us to, you know, establish it as a ministry. And so went through all the legwork of making it a 501c3 and all the things, right? But the heart of why we did it wasn't for me to have all these speaking events, it was to help people shift their perspectives. And so that's if you look on my website, you'll see my tagline is Choosing Joy Shifting Perspectives because that is the heartbeat of why we're doing what we do. It's not to put me on a platform or a pedestal, but to help people unlock those pieces in them that God has called them to be and to shift their perspectives from their circumstance back to Him. That has evolved into many things throughout the years. You know, I still speak a lot, still do women's conferences. That's how you heard about me and heard me. I do, you know, Sunday mornings, I do events, I do corporate stuff. Most recently, I've been really getting into school assemblies, which has been amazing. God has opened the door in that way. It's incredible because now more than ever, we need a voice of reason and hope for these young kids, you know, teens, and um, there's just so much depression and suicide and anxiety, and it just it really is just it wrecks my heart. And so if I can help one kid choose life, choose joy, choose joy, you know, choose hope, then it is 1000% worth it. It's been amazing being able to use it in that way. Yeah, and it's not easy getting into the schools, honestly. Most of the schools have a guard up, they don't want, you know, just anybody coming in and speaking to the kids, which totally understand a lot of schools are have their guard up from a faith-based ministry. We've had to be pretty unique in how we present it because we can't present the gospel in a public school. But even like I don't have to say God, Jesus. I think the only thing I really say is prayer and faith because that's you can keep it very basic, you know, everybody can kind of relate to that. And so I can say that, but I can't really get into the weeds of deeply my faith. But even saying that, it plants seeds.
SPEAKER_01:I was gonna say it put it still plants a seed no matter how. If he opens that door to get you in there, a seed's gonna be planted somewhere.
SPEAKER_02:It's really cool how the Lord has been able to use even just like the high-level stuff to really propel conversations in the students. And I always do a QA at the end, which is my favorite part, because that's where really we get into some good stuff, you know, and sometimes some really hard stuff. And if they ask specific questions about the Lord or whatever, I can respond. That's a great way to So they open up the door inadvertently, yes, a lot of times, and then that's how God, you know, uses it even more, you know. And I had one kid ask me, What's your favorite scripture? And I was like, Praise Jesus! Uh so of course, you know, I'm gonna take the opportunity. I'm just answering their question, you know. So it's really cool how God has been able to use even just the basics to plant the seeds, and really they're getting scripture, they're getting God's word. They just don't know. I'm not saying 2 Timothy 1 7, but I am saying, listen, you don't have to live in fear. You can walk in power, love and a sound mind. You know, like I'm telling them. They just don't know. They don't know what they're doing.
SPEAKER_01:You're watering, you're planting and you're watering. Yes. Because you don't know who planted something before.
SPEAKER_02:You're absolutely watering on top of it. 100%. So yeah, it's really cool. And there's some people in the assemblies. I've had kids ask various questions, but the one that really got me was a kid that he was in front of his whole sixth grade class. And this school was so massive that they had to have an assembly for each grade because the auditorium wouldn't fit more than that. So they have two, three hundred kids in one grade. They had entire sixth grade classes there. And he says, Ma'am, I'm just telling you that I struggle with depression. And listening to you today has taught me that I can choose joy. Like, if you can choose it and you've gone through all that you can do, like I can choose it. And that statement right there in front of all of his peers, like it, it really did wreck me because I'm thinking, that's what we're after. It's just the slight switch moment. That's what I go back to all the time when I was like, when I feel, when I need that feel of like, oh, is this even worth it? It's frustrating. I come against walls all the time trying to get into different schools or whatever. But God reminds me, like, that's what it's for, right there is that shift. It's been really cool. And I actually have a round of school assemblies coming up in November where I'm going to Pennsylvania and hitting a ton. I'm ready to do that again. And so if you're listening and you have some connections in schools, reach out. What's the website? So it's B An Overcomer Ministries.com. That's my ministry website. I also have a school assembly website that's completely separate because it's not as faith driven, so that it's not gonna make people put up the wall right away. And that's TiffanyJohnson.net. So that one you could blast out to people and it would give them what I do. It has a video actually right on the home page that talks about, you know, my vision, why I do what I do. I'm a public speaker that goes into school assemblies, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, so it gives all that information and then there's a way to connect with me. And then that be an overcomer ministries is the faith-based side of being able to go into churches and conferences that are all faith-based. So kind of have like two different wings now of the ministry to be able to be effective.
SPEAKER_01:God's using you in some amazing ways, and he's gonna put you where he wants you, and he's gonna put you where he's like, I need her right here. And she's gonna be at this school at this moment when that kid's gonna be there. Yes. That's how it's gonna work. Absolutely. Yeah. So let me ask you a question because I know we're all kind of curious. What did you do prior to this ministry? All of a sudden, you're like in the spotlight. Were you even used to being in the spotlight at all?
SPEAKER_02:I was a project manager prior to doing all of this ministry stuff. I was used to leading teams, I was used to training people. Being on stage didn't really affect me at all. I have a lot of experience. I actually sing on the worship team at church and I've since I was young. So, you know, stage presence is something that I has been natural in me. So that part really was has been an equipping process from the Lord. However, I have never um done anything where I've had to produce my own content, you know, speak a message or be a teacher of in any way of like the word. It so that part has been an unlocking that's happened since the attack. And that's a lot of responsibility. It really is. And honestly, it's a little bit frightening because I know what God's word says about those that carry his word to others. Like there is a scrutiny there, and I have to be very careful and I I don't take it lightly. In fact, every time I go to speak, especially in places of worship, and I tell the pastors, thank you for trusting me, because that's a huge piece being able to speak into their congregation. You know, you've got to have trust there, and um, and so I want to honor them for you know trusting me in that and I do not it's weighty um because I don't want to misspeak and misrepresent Jesus. And so I am very, very careful on and I probably have done it wrong in many ways because I'm not perfect. We're not perfect, but it's my heart. Yeah, my heart is to honor him. And so even when I have misspoke, I've I've tried to bring correction to myself and bring that to light because I want to make sure that I'm pure in presenting the gospel.
SPEAKER_01:It's a wonderful thing to be because that just shows right there, even knowing that you're gonna be held accountable to that and be responsible and you are responsible to that, just knowing that says that you're a responsible person because it's weighty. It's weighty. Because some people might not even realize that that's literally, it does say in the Bible, you are going to be held accountable for what you teach to others. Yes. You take that to heart, yeah. It means a lot. So I want to ask a question. I don't know everybody, I can just see it now. Mindy, ask this question. Do you have any idea what type of shark attacked you?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I believe 100% that it was a tiger shark. We had the shark the National Shark Attack Institute, I think that's how they say it. They um got involved with my story and they I gave them permission to, you know, get my medical files and all the things, and they They narrowed it down to either a Caribbean reef shark or a tiger shark. They couldn't indefinitely say there was just not enough evidence to point to one or the other, but it was it had to have been one or the other. And then later I looked up pictures of the eyes, because if you remember from the first segment, we were what, not even a full twelve inches away from each other. Right into their eyes. Yeah, I that was the feature that I remember the most. And so I remember black, beady eyes, and that is the characteristic of a tiger shark. The Caribbean Reef Shark's eyes are more iridescent-y, they're you know, they're not the same. So when I saw the eyes of a tiger shark, I was like, that's it. That's you know, I knew. I will go to my grave saying it's it was a tiger shark, but they just can't pinpoint the in the research world for legit reasons.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Do you still get out in the ocean? Do you still go snorkeling? I'm just kind of curious, and and how did it affect your family as far as their fear going into the water? Yes, I still do.
SPEAKER_02:It took me a bit. We went to the beach that summer after it happened. We had already had a beach trip plan with my husband's family, and they were all considering canceling, and I'm like, no, we are not. I mean, we don't have to necessarily even I don't have to go down to the beach, but we can still hang out. And so I wanted to make sure that we weren't living in fear, but we also had to use wisdom. So it's like that balancing act, right? And even that, this was I think it was like late July, so this happened June 2nd. So, you know, it's like almost two months afterwards. You're still healing. I'm still healing, I still got bandages.
SPEAKER_01:Physically healing, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. We decided we stayed off the beach, we weren't right on the beach, and one of the days my in-laws were gonna go to the beach, and we had decided my family, my immediate family was just not gonna go, we're just gonna go do putt-putt or something else. But then my kids found out their cousins were going to the beach, and they're like, Well, why can't we go? You know, and you remember they don't know at this time, you know, what it's true, you know, so they don't know why I'm telling them we can't go to the beach. And so then I'm like, how am I gonna work through this? And I'm like, okay, we can go, but nobody I don't want anybody swimming. Like, I just I I can't, I'm not ready for that, you know. And so we agreed to go. And I remember just sitting there and watching the waves, and you know, it was fine. But then my oldest, who was, you know, five at the time, you know, she's starts following my cousin and or her cousin, and they start kind of waiting in the water, and I just had all this anxiety just start like raging in me, and I started like freaking out. Yeah. And I'm like, get her out of the water now. Like I, you know, and I looked at my husband, I'm like, this was a bad idea, you know, like we probably shouldn't have done this, you know. And they got her and it was fine, you know. But I just I realized like I mentally was not ready for all of that, you know. I was trying to sustainably, I was trying to be strong and trying to be like, you know, okay, it's fine. It was it was a lot. And so that just taught me like we've got to be careful on where what we do. We can't just do things just to get a notch in our belt. We have to do it because we have peace in it, right? Right. And God calls us to overcome, but we have to be careful on those steps to overcome, right?
SPEAKER_01:We can't be still have to rely on him for every single step. And that right there shows you you have to rely for every single step. You do.
SPEAKER_02:And so I was very, very cautious from then on. Like I knew I didn't want to live in fear, but I also knew that God had given me peace. He had protected my mind. I honestly, to this day, have not had consistent nightmares or issues with PTSD. I've had a little bit, but not not anything that has lasted more than just a few moments. But that's his protection. Yes. And it's not not to say that I'm better than somebody that does deal with that, but that's just my testimony. Yeah. You know, that's how God decided to uh work in my life. And I didn't want to personally do something that would take that away. Right. Because I knew I was operating under his piece, you know. He did not want to put an end to that. And so I was very cautious. And friends of ours had they really wanted to go on a cruise. We had talked about it for years. Then this happens on a cruise, you know, and we had already tentatively planned to go the next year with them. And so they were even like, do we even talk about it, you know? And I and I remember like telling them, like, yes, let's go. I we can still go on a cruise, you know. Right. So we went and that cruise, we actually did snorkel, but it was in the turtle preserves across the street from the ocean. So it was like a stepping stone opportunity for me.
SPEAKER_01:In the ocean, but you were kind of making a little small step.
SPEAKER_02:But even that, it was hard. I remember the sound of my breath through the snorkel tube brought back a ton of thoughts, and but I had to take the thought captive. It was, it was not easy, but I remember telling the Lord, like, I know this is okay, and I know you've given me peace in this, and I just want to enjoy it again. And so we did it, and I remember we got done snorkeling, we got to see all the turtles, it was really cool. And I after we were done, I was like, I did it! You know, yes. And so that kind of helped set the stage, and from then on, we I snorkeled like in a cove, within a cove, in the ocean. Yeah, it was like stage two, you know, and then eventually, yes, eventually at the round the five-year mark, I ended up doing an open water snorkel for the first time. And I had so much peace in that I knew that I would do it again because I'm I'm bullheaded, like I'm like, I'm gonna do it. But I was trying to be careful to do it in his timing. I honestly didn't know if I would enjoy it, but I did, and that was an amazing blessing. And I thank God that he's given me that love back for something that I loved to do before.
SPEAKER_01:That's awesome because that, you know, you love to do it before. Gave me that love back for that. All good and perfect gifts come from the Lord. And what the devil means for evil, God means for good. Yes. So you went through all of that and you still get to enjoy his creation. Yes. Amen. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:So it's been a journey, but it says in his word that we can make the plans, but he orders our steps, right? And so that's the piece that I keep coming back to. It's like, okay, God, I'm gonna make these plans, but please, please come in and order the steps because I don't know what I'm doing. You know, like I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask to be an amputee, I don't know what I'm doing. You know, I still feel like that, and I'm eight years in. I don't I don't know how to live life sometimes. You know, there's still things that'll come across that I've I haven't done before as an amputee, and I'll be like, oh, okay, let me think for a second. Can I even do this? There's still pieces that I'm still working through, and so I I'll really have to lean on him, and that's what he wants.
SPEAKER_01:So did you ever at any point get angry at God? Did you ever just have a moment of why me? Why am I having to go through this? You know he's with you the whole entire time, but we all feel it every now and then. Yeah. Why, why me? Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02:At the beginning, I, you know, I was just so wrecked emotionally. I had endured such a traumatic event, and I remember just frustrated, like, God, I I I know that you're with me, but couldn't you have done it a different way? I remember even telling him, couldn't you have took my leg instead? That seems easier. Like, it's not easier, it's not. But in my mind, I was dealing with so much, and it felt like every bit of my life was impacted that I was trying to rationalize something else. Like, you know, why didn't you? Could you have done it where I got bit but still had my arm? Like, you know, why did it have to be this way? You know, I there was a lot of questions like that in the beginning, and um, just laying them before him, like I would just weep like I don't know what I'm doing, God. Like this is this is awful. Like, I didn't know how to be a mom to my young kids. I, you know, it was I felt defeated a lot. But anytime I started to go into that why me, you know, mentality, I really just had to lay it down before him in prayer. Just lament to him, you know, because he can handle it. He wants us to give him those feelings. Like we're not those feelings aren't wrong. It's just what we do with them, right? And so I just that's what I would do. Every time I would start to get in that cycle of thought where I would recognize, whew, this is this is getting heavy. I need to go in, close the door, and just lament to him. And that's that's what I would do. And so that honestly is what kind of helped me get through those cycles of frustrating moments where I was asking the why me questions. And there's still times now that I, like I said, I didn't ask for this, you know. So there's still times that I'm like, this is really my life. You know what? It's just it's hard for me to wrap my head around still, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And after eight years at some point, still not have PTSD, it's just those thought processes that's like.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you just yeah, it's it's still foreign to me because this isn't a life that I chose. This is wasn't an action that I did that caused it. It was just something that happened and now I'm having to deal with it, you know. And so it's it's still frustrating. But what's been amazing is how God has continued to use it and he's given me these little glimmers of him using it that has helped me in those times where I do get into the cycle of like, this is so hard. Why are you you know, like, why me? I can go back to, but remember that kid at the assembly that changed his focus. You know, I had a a guy that got a hold of me through Facebook Messenger who had heard my testimony, who had said, I was about to commit suicide, but I heard your testimony and it stopped me. It's those things that help get me back into focus of okay, even though this is hard and I'm not taken away from the hard, you're in it, you're with me and you're using it. It's still hard, but then it makes it worth it. You know, so I I would just encourage the listeners if there's some challenging things that you're going through or have gone through or will go through, in the midst of the challenge, remember what God has done for you. And I promise you, you're gonna see those little pieces and nuggets that he'll give you to propel you forward. Sometimes the circumstance doesn't change, he helps you see it from a different perspective and he equips us, he gives us the hope when we need the hope, he gives us the joy when we need the joy, he gives us the peace when we need the peace. Like he's he's good like that, right? Right. But it we've got to go to him for it, and and that's really how I got through those moments of why.
SPEAKER_01:You're an amazing person. God has definitely been using you and is still using you and is going to use you and to talk more about him, to give different perspectives. Everything he kind of mentally went through with this whole ordeal is is human, it's a normal reaction. Yeah. So there's times that we're like, we we don't know how to pick ourselves back up. But we're not meant to pick ourselves back up. No he does. Exactly. Yeah. God's just got so much for you, so much in store for you. I'm along for the ride, you know. What else are you gonna do now? That's right.
SPEAKER_02:Like I I really I did. I laid down my job um back at the beginning of 2020, before COVID and before I knew people were gonna be losing their jobs. I laid down my job because I I felt him calling me to do this full time to to speak and share. And so I am just I'm here to do whatever he's asked me to do. I mean, he saved my life. He he's the reason I'm here. So I am gonna use every breath in my lungs to honor him and to not waste a second chance.
SPEAKER_01:That was just such a powerful statement. So, my friends, my listeners, what kind of situation are you in right now that you have to and you need to choose joy and you need to choose hope, you need to look at it from a different perspective. I thank Miss Tiffany for being here with us and sharing her remarkable story with us about how God can get you through anything. You just have to turn to him, you just have to read his word, know his word, reach out to him, and he will get you through everything. My listeners, thank you so much for listening. And as always, if it matters to your community, you matter to Joy of Him.
