I witnessed a bittersweet death today
Sunday July 31, 2005
Today in church, about 2 minutes after the benediction, I was standing in the center isle talking, like many other people were doing, and I hear Beau Weston yell out
“WE NEED A DOCTOR!!!”
He went running down the isle, looking for a doctor. I looked over to where Beau had come from to see why they needed a doctor and I saw David Newhall (a retired Centre professor and a longtime member of our church) on the floor, unconscious. He had been talking with some people and suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed. We called 911. I went running around to see if I could find a doctor, but with no success. When I had come back to the sanctuary, where he was, I saw that he had gotten about halfway into a fetal position, his face was beginning to turn blue, a friend of his was holding his head in her arms.
At that point, which was then about 3 or 4 minutes after the benediction, Justin (minister of music) was still playing the postlude on the organ because he didn’t know that all of this was happening. He was playing a beautiful song, “Praeludium et Fuga in C” by Bach.
As time went on, David’s condition got worse and worse. By the time the EMS got there he had no pulse. But they tried and tried to resuscitate him, but without any success. They were there for a while and during that time I went and stood with Lindsey Boitnott, and we comforted each other, cause we were both pretty shaken up. The EMS guys put David on a stretcher, and started wheeling down the center isle, out and on out to the ambulance, and I went back and helped hold the church doors open, and let the EMS guys know where the ramp was. EMS guys were, all the while, doing their best to try to resuscitate David, but with still no success. As they were taking him out to the ambulance, everyone that was still there (which was about 25 people) was beginning to circle up and hold hands and having a prayer, up in the front of the sanctuary, where everything had happened. As soon as they had gotten him out the door on the stretcher, I quickly made my way to the prayer circle. I broke down pretty badly during the prayers, everyone else was crying hard also. I saw him die.
Also, it was strange, because in Harris’s sermon today, he talked about “home” and its many different meaningsand how heaven is “home” and God is “home” and how church is “home”. God was calling David to come home. GOD WAS TRULY THERE!!!! I saw, felt, and heard God today.
It was almost beautiful; he was lying there in the front of the huge and beautiful sanctuary, in the center isle, by the cross, and right next to the communion table with the cup and the plate on it. Beautiful music being played on the organ. David was being held in the arms of one of his friends. He was surrounded by his church family, we were all praying for him and doing whatever we could, to comfort him and each other. God came and took David away, and took him to heaven, and now David is happy, with God in paradise. It was a bittersweet death.
In Loving Memory of
David Newhall
Today in church, about 2 minutes after the benediction, I was standing in the center isle talking, like many other people were doing, and I hear Beau Weston yell out
“WE NEED A DOCTOR!!!”
He went running down the isle, looking for a doctor. I looked over to where Beau had come from to see why they needed a doctor and I saw David Newhall (a retired Centre professor and a longtime member of our church) on the floor, unconscious. He had been talking with some people and suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed. We called 911. I went running around to see if I could find a doctor, but with no success. When I had come back to the sanctuary, where he was, I saw that he had gotten about halfway into a fetal position, his face was beginning to turn blue, a friend of his was holding his head in her arms.
At that point, which was then about 3 or 4 minutes after the benediction, Justin (minister of music) was still playing the postlude on the organ because he didn’t know that all of this was happening. He was playing a beautiful song, “Praeludium et Fuga in C” by Bach.
As time went on, David’s condition got worse and worse. By the time the EMS got there he had no pulse. But they tried and tried to resuscitate him, but without any success. They were there for a while and during that time I went and stood with Lindsey Boitnott, and we comforted each other, cause we were both pretty shaken up. The EMS guys put David on a stretcher, and started wheeling down the center isle, out and on out to the ambulance, and I went back and helped hold the church doors open, and let the EMS guys know where the ramp was. EMS guys were, all the while, doing their best to try to resuscitate David, but with still no success. As they were taking him out to the ambulance, everyone that was still there (which was about 25 people) was beginning to circle up and hold hands and having a prayer, up in the front of the sanctuary, where everything had happened. As soon as they had gotten him out the door on the stretcher, I quickly made my way to the prayer circle. I broke down pretty badly during the prayers, everyone else was crying hard also. I saw him die.
Also, it was strange, because in Harris’s sermon today, he talked about “home” and its many different meaningsand how heaven is “home” and God is “home” and how church is “home”. God was calling David to come home. GOD WAS TRULY THERE!!!! I saw, felt, and heard God today.
It was almost beautiful; he was lying there in the front of the huge and beautiful sanctuary, in the center isle, by the cross, and right next to the communion table with the cup and the plate on it. Beautiful music being played on the organ. David was being held in the arms of one of his friends. He was surrounded by his church family, we were all praying for him and doing whatever we could, to comfort him and each other. God came and took David away, and took him to heaven, and now David is happy, with God in paradise. It was a bittersweet death.
In Loving Memory of
David Newhall