Paul Oliver knows what it is like to live in a “new normal.”
South Carolina native Paul Oliver, who suffered life-threatening injuries in an ATV accident in February 2011, is now using that experience to connect with wounded military personnel through his work with “Operation Heal Our Patriots,” a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.A native of South Carolina and the son of a Baptist pastor, Oliver suffered a crushed skull, broken neck, a brain injury and other problems that continue to plague him in an ATV accident in February 2011. Since then, he has re-learned how to walk and has had six surgeries with at least two more pending.
“There is pretty consistent pain in most everything I do,” said Oliver. “My mobility is difficult and it hurts even to bend down and tie my shoes. And I still have to do it again the next morning. This crash affects every aspect of my life.”
Oliver’s accident and ongoing recovery have allowed him to have greater understanding of the ministry he has been assigned. Oliver is program coordinator for Operation Heal Our Patriots, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse that meets physical needs while sharing the love of Jesus Christ in more than 100 countries. Operation Heal Our Patriots offers a week-long retreat for wounded military service personnel and their spouses at Samaritan Lodge Alaska in Port Alsworth, Alaska. A dedication service for the new facility and ministry was held June 21 and the first couples began arriving June 24.
Oliver, who began working with the project as construction project manager, now works directly with the couples participating in the program, from the application process to arranging transportation to the site as well as other logistics. He suffered a traumatic brain injury in two areas, something he says he has in common with some of the military personnel he has talked to in the last several months.
“I think my accident has allowed me to understand them a little better,” he said. “They are learning what life is like living with a serious injury. They have to handle a ‘new normal’ in their lives. It is very personal to me, having gone through this thing almost 18 months ago. In my opinion, it is a connection that we have shared, something most people cannot fathom. I feel it might make them more comfortable.”
Oliver, 29, came to Alaska in the summer of 2010, joining Samaritan’s Purse in Marshall, a small village, where he worked construction and helped with volunteer teams, building a church and two houses. In October 2010, he came to Port Alsworth to help with the renovation of an old lakeside fishing lodge for Operation Heal Our Patriots.
Life changed dramatically for Oliver on February 18, 2011. He was in a Yamaha Rhino ATV, going to pick up some tools, and collided with a pickup truck as he was turning onto a road. He said he did not see the truck until it was too late.
“It was so close, the foreman of our project heard the crash,” he said. “He saw the Yamaha Rhino rolling and then he saw me fall out of it. He thought I was already dead.”
The foreman and others rushed to the scene to help. They administered treatment and even saw Oliver move his legs a little, a sign that he was not paralyzed. He was eventually airlifted to Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage.
The driver of the truck turned out to be a woman Oliver knew. They had even attended the same church.
“She was a good friend, a sweet lady running errands,” he said. “There was nothing that she could have done. The brakes don’t work on a frozen road anyway. She and her husband flew to Anchorage to visit me, kept up with me and wrote me letters. They were very concerned. The church took up a collection and gave it to my parents to help with expenses.”
Jim and Becky Oliver sit in front of one of the refurbished cabins made available to couples at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, part of Samaritan Purse’s new Operation Heal Our Patriots.Oliver’s parents, Jim and Becky Oliver, received a call from Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, informing them of the accident. They were able to get a call through on a cell phone to talk to their son.
“It was unbelievable,” said Becky Oliver. “When the call came, we didn’t know so much immediately,” she said. “We heard he had moved his legs and there were little snippets of information. They didn’t know if he had brain damage, and there was the possibility of him being blind in one eye.”
Oliver’s father, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Roebuck, said God was working even on that frozen road.
“There were no roads in or out and the planes were weathered in, so he was lying on the ice and they were putting blankets on him,” said Jim Oliver. “But lying on the ice kept the swelling (of the brain) down. What the devil meant for evil, God meant for good.”
The Olivers caught the next available flight to Alaska. By the time they arrived, their son was in the Anchorage hospital and had already had one surgery. His face was crushed and he eventually had 160 stitches and 50 staples, as well as the brain injury and two broken vertebrae in his neck. He was in the hospital for two weeks and then he and his parents moved into a home in Anchorage, owned by a friend in South Carolina. After another two weeks, they were able to come back to South Carolina and Oliver stayed with his parents in Moore recuperating. When they arrived home, there was a recliner in the living room, a gift from a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church.
“It was the only type of chair I could physically sit in,” he said. “It was such a blessing.”
Oliver eventually moved to his home in Spartanburg. He said the accident has left him thankful to God.
“Once I was cognitive, I was very thankful and grateful to be alive,” he said. “Nobody can understand why I wasn’t paralyzed. The Lord had to reach down from there and keep that from happening. The blunt trauma broke [my neck] in just a way to keep the spinal cord intact. It literally saved my life.”
Captain Scotty Smiley, the U.S. Army’s first blind active-duty officer wounded in an attack by a suicide bomber on April 6, 2005, speaks at the dedication ceremony for Samaritan Lodge Alaska.In January, Oliver returned to Samaritan’s Purse to take on his current role with Operation Heal Our Patriots. The program is at capacity for the first eight weeks this summer, and there are more than enough applications to fill the final weeks of 2012. A total of 84 couples are expected this summer, and Oliver said plans call for the number to rise to 120 couples in 2013. Among those couples coming this summer are one from Spartanburg and one from Rock Hill.
Operation Heal Our Patriots is the only such ministry that reaches out to couples. To be considered for participation, a military service member must have been wounded in combat or combat-related action since Sept. 11, 2001. The spouse has to be willing and able to come as well. It is the only program of its kind to reach out to spouses. The couples are provided transportation to the Samaritan Lodge Alaska, which is located adjacent to Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. They come in on Sunday and leave Friday. During the week, there are daily devotions, a worship service each week, and a variety of recreational activities such as fishing and bear viewing. There are even wheelchair ramps to make it easier for those in wheelchairs to get on a boat. A chaplain is part of the staff, and marriage enrichment classes are also offered.
“The most challenging part of this is I have so many applicants and I can only take so many people,” he said. There are a lot of people who need this thing. Spouses call about how difficult deployment has been on their marriage. There is a tremendous need out there for a service that does show the Lord’s healing power.”
Oliver is able to continue to relate to those whose lives are altered permanently by pain and a life-changing trauma. He receives epidural pain injections every few months to help cope with the pain.
Oliver was not able to attend the dedication on June 21, but his parents were there. His father has served on the board of directors of Samaritan’s Purse for the past five years, and his church has been involved with the Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry for children for about 12 years. The dedication marked the first time the Olivers had been back in Alaska since their son’s accident nearly a year and a half ago.
“I saw a physical and spiritual change since the last time I was there,” said Jim Oliver. “The Lord Jesus is going to rescue people and their marriages. People are going to hear the gospel. Darkness is turning into light. It is exciting.”
Paul Oliver is hoping to make a trip to the Samaritan Lodge Alaska later this summer when he is scheduled to meet with surgeons in Alaska.
A large crowd gathers for the dedication of Samaritan Lodge Alaska on June 21.