Miraculous Healing in the ER

The flight home to Georgia from Florida had been uneventful for pilot, Billy Cranford. Then, with the airport in sight, the plane began to lose power. "I saw the runway go out of reach,” recalled Billy. “I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I thought, we are going to crash, and this is going to hurt.” He recalls his last thoughts before the crash. “I remember thinking, man, this, this is it.” The last thing he remembers is crashing through the trees. “The sound that I’ll never forget and that I never want to hear again is the sound of trees hitting my windshield and my wings.” When he regained consciousness, Billy found his cell phone and called 911. The operator on the line quickly responds.

Operator: “Meriwether County 911 what is your emergency?”
Billy: “Yeah, I don’t know where I’m at, I’ve had a plane crash.”
Operator: “Okay, you said you’ve had a plane crash?”
Billy: “Yeah, I don’t know where I’m at.”

Rescue workers can be heard cutting a path through the dense woods trying to reach him. With the 911 operator still on the line, all Billy could do was pray. You can hear his prayer on the call as he cries out, “Heavenly Father give me strength to help us. Give me strength to help us.”

After almost an hour, rescue workers finally reached the plane and flew him to Atlanta Medical Center. Billy’s injuries were extensive. His head and face had sustained several fractures leaving one eye swollen shut and his brain swelling. His back was broken in four places. When his daughter, Lindsey, arrived, she knew her dad needed God’s healing. She recalls seeing her father for the first time after the crash, “He was, you know, almost unrecognizable.” She says, “It was like a pleading. 'Please, if there’s any chance, let him be okay.' I didn’t just want him to be alive, I wanted him to be okay. He’s super active and runs around with my kids and I didn’t want him to miss out on that for the rest of his life.” 

As people came to show their support and pray, amazing things began to happen. The first came shortly after Billy’s pastor prayed at his bedside for Billy’s eye to be healed. Ryan, a family friend was also there and witnessed an answer to prayer right before his very eyes. He recalls the moment, “His eye that was swollen up and couldn’t open actually ended up opening within a matter of minutes, and then we notice that both of his eyes are open and he’s communicating with us.”

That same day, doctors told Billy they needed to perform back surgery the next morning. He recalls his conversation with the doctor. “I said, 'Doc, I don’t want surgery.' He said, 'Well, you have no choice.' I said, 'The Lord’s going to heal me.' He came by and tapped me on my shoulder. He said, 'Well, until then we’re having surgery.' As he started to walk out of the room, I said, 'Hey doc, I want a second opinion.'” The doctor told Billy, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll take you to MRI right before surgery and that’ll be your second opinion."

That night, a friend organized a prayer meeting on Zoom and 8,000 people joined in. “We had so many people praying and telling us they were praying, and of course we were praying, and it was just obvious.” Lindsey said. “I mean, every day, you know, there was like a miracle or an answer to prayer.” 

The next morning, they took Billy in for his MRI. In that short time, his back had already started showing signs of healing. Billy recalls the conversation he had with his doctor about the surgery. “He said, 'Well, Mr. Cranford, it looks like you may be getting your wish.' I said, 'How so?' The doctor said, 'Well, I think we’re going to avoid surgery.' I said, 'Praise God.' Then he said, 'Well, we must have gotten some bad pictures yesterday.' 'Yeah right, doc, the Lord healed me,'” Billy said, smiling.

By the end of the week, the brain swelling had subsided. Billy was released to go home to start physical therapy. Today, Billy is fully healed and enjoying the things he loves most… flying and spending time with his family. “Knowing that He’s protected our family and He’s using my dad’s story,” Lindsey said, “I think He’ll continue to use our story and the Lord’s story.” “Satan had plans to kill, steal and destroy that day,” Billy states, “but God said, 'No, I’m going to give him life. I’m going to give him life more abundantly'…and that’s exactly what happened.”