Do you believe in guardian angels or know who they are? A guardian angel is an angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group, kingdom, or country in their time of need.
For a one Caleb Trahan, he met his guardian angel one Saturday morning when had a tragic accident. One Saturday morning before Mother’s Day, Julie Evans Schaferling happened to be driving down FM1488 at 3 in the morning when she came across a tragic scene. She saw a single car that had left the road and ran into a pole.
The driver, identified as Caleb Trahan, had been partially thrown out of the car and was in critical condition. He was in urgent need of medical care because he was severely injured from a tragic accident.
Instead of just calling 911 and continuing the down the road, Schaferling did the opposite – she did everything to help Caleb. Thankfully, she was an ER (Emergency Room) doctor, so she utilized her skills and put them to good use. Julie immediately dialed 911 and gave detailed information to the dispatcher, including that Trahan was trapped.
She did not stop there, Schaferling stayed with him until the entire response team arrived, including the Montgomery County Sheriff, Magnolia Fire Department, and Montgomery County Hospital District.
Once on the scene, the emergency personnel intubated Trahan and got him out of the vehicle. Any other person would have left the scene once these professionals were on hand, but not Julie. She was patient enough and stayed around until Caleb was taken away in the ambulance. She assumed that Caleb had died from his injuries.
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He was in a terrible state, his condition was worrying. He had several broken ribs; broken bones in his legs, arms, and face; a lacerated liver; and a collapsed lung, in addition to extreme blood loss. On his way to the hospital, Caleb had lost his pulse not once, but three times. From her experience as an emergency room doctor, Julie was well aware that his chances of survival were very slim. Thanks for her quick thinking and calm response, he managed to pull through.
Her husband, Jim Schaferling Jr., was very impressed with his wife and by the whole turn of events that he posted took to Facebook to share this story.
He wrote:
“Very, very proud of you, Julie Evans Schaferling. Today she met the man that died at 0300am on a Saturday morning coming home from work, Julie drove up on a car wreck on FM 1488 where a single vehicle left the road, struck a pole and partially ejected the driver.
ADVERTISEMENT She told 911 dispatcher exactly where the accident was and maintained her calm as she informed them that the male was trapped in the vehicle, sending additional rescue equipment. Magnolia Fire, Montgomery County Sheriff, and MCHD responded.
ADVERTISEMENT Julie stayed with him until they arrived. Many of the responders recognized her and began treating him based on her assessment. They intubated him through the windshield as the fire department cut the vehicle away from him. She never left his side.
ADVERTISEMENT When she got home and told the story, I was proud of her for doing what she could on that dark road in the middle of the night, but we both knew from many, many similar calls that chances were not good at all and we left it at that. The only update she got from the EMS crews in the days that followed was that he lost pulses 3 times during transport.
ADVERTISEMENT Anyone who has worked in trauma for any length of time will tell you, the chances of survival, much less any meaningful recovery from that condition was next to 0%. He gads broken bones in his face, arms and legs, multiple broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver, and major blood loss.
ADVERTISEMENT Fast forward 2 months, and she gets a friend request on Facebook. Today she got to meet him.”
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The story of Julia Evans Schaferling and Caleb Trahan doesn’t end there. It was only fitting that the two meet, particularly now that they would both be fully alert during the encounter. Caleb shared a heartfelt Facebook post on July 16 expressing his sincere thanks. He described Julie as his “new favorite person,” something that doesn’t seem like a stretch at all.
As Caleb explained: “Her hard work and dedication kept me alive long enough so that I was able to be brought to life by the amazing paramedics. This poor woman did not want me to die alone on Mother’s Day and bless her heart.” Caleb also expressed regret that Julie did not realize he had pulled through.
He finished up his message saying: “I was very happy to meet you today. Thank you and your family for coming and everything that y’all do.” Caleb Trahan is currently taking steps toward full recovery. He finally went home from the hospital in mid-June, posting a photo on Facebook along with the message “I’M A FREE MAN.”
However, his struggles aren’t over. He began a GoFundMe page to help pay off his medical bills and is a third of the way toward reaching his goal at the time of writing this article. He will need several more medical procedures on his path to a complete recovery and is appreciative of any help others can spare.
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In the meantime, Caleb is very happy that God gave him a chance to live again and Schaferling is ecstatic to have made such a difference in someone’s life. We bet they will have a long friendship. Caleb has also gotten to meet the emergency responders that saved his life and deliver his thanks in person.