An Irish student involved in a car accident in America claims God spoke to him while trapped in the car. The horrific crash took place in Death Valley “of all places” explained Padraic Rocliffe. One a trip to Lake Tahoe with other students, the crash caused the car to rollover.
“I broke my neck, my back and my foot. I ended up spending 10 months in Vegas,” said Padraic in an interview with RTE’s Dave Fanning. “The only way I can describe it is that God spoke to me and he said, ‘Sit back into the car. Put your back up against the roof’. He told me to ask the girls to get a pillow and put it behind my head. I was unaware I had broken as many bones as I had.
Lake Tahoe (Wikipedia)
“He spoke to me again. He said, ‘I’ve never let you down before. You’re not going to be paralysed’.
“I had an overwhelming feeling of calm and I knew I’d be OK.”
Trapped for over two hours while waiting for emergency services to arrive, Padraic didn’t know at the time how bad his injuries really were. He subsequently had to re-learn how to feed and walk himself again. “It’s given me a completely different perspective”.
After the incident, Padraic knew he had to help others and began volunteering to help the homeless. That led him to start the Shine a Line project, and he has been collecting donations such as sleeping bags, warms clothes, gloves, scarves and perishable foods at points in Dublin, Mayo and Limerick.