Real Life Miracles: Yolanda Bethea’s Walls of Angels
By Yolanda Bethea
On 6/18/2009 I was admitted to the hospital, Henry General in Stockbridge GA. Wow let me back up.
Two months earlier I noticed that there were shadows following me around my house. I wasn’t afraid I was just amazed. After seeing them for a few weeks I called by best friend Pam and told her, “People will think that I’m losing my mind, I have shadows following me.” She said it was okay, she understood”
On the day that I got sick, let me tell you about my day.
That day, I was at the warehouse at work and I noticed my shadows were following me there – that was the 1st time at my job. This concerned me. We had a plant [company] wide meeting. This meeting was being held in the warehouse. They cleared out this area and placed chairs and projectors in the area for this meeting. Upon walking in with my coworkers, I noticed that I could smell the dust. I started to pray, “Please Lord don’t let me get sick.” When I got to the area I couldn’t breathe. I went to my office and used my inhaler. I did get a little relief.
That night we had a company dinner planned. Still not feeling good, I went home and got dressed and went to the dinner. Unfortunately for me it was at a Sushi Bar. It was so hot in the restaurant. We started out at the bar area, then we proceeded to the restaurant area where they were cooking on the grills. For me this was a nightmare. Once they fired up the grills, I thought that I was going to pass out. I excused myself from the area and proceeded to the ladies’ room where I went into deep prayer. I turned on the sinks and attempted to steam up the area to get fresh air. It was so hot inside and outside. After my third trip to the ladies room I began to feel better.
When I left the dinner my thought was, “Should I go to the doctor or should I go home?” I elected to go home, and went straight to bed. I woke up around 3 am. I was very short of breathe; I told my husband (Jerome) that if things didn’t get better in an hour, he would have to take me to the hospital.
My condition seemed to be getting worse and to make the situation worse, my asthma machine wasn’t working. I asked Jerome, now in panic mode, to call 911. When the paramedics arrived, they started questioning me about my heart, asking me over and over, “Do you have a heart condition?” I told them no.
I told them that I didn’t know how I was talking because I cannot breathe, and yes my heartbeat was irregular. They were ready to transport me to the hospital. I volunteered to walk down the stairs as long as they held my arms. I felt like I was going to pass out. Once I got outside there were lights everywhere. I think the entire Henry County was at my house.
I got in the ambulance. I was uncomfortable, and couldn’t lay flat on my back as the handsome, nice paramedic instructed; my stomach was all wobbly. I began to cry, feeling out of sorts. The paramedic told me to calm down. Something wasn’t right, I couldn’t breathe. He gave me something in the IV and the last thing I remember saying was, “LORD PLEASE HELP ME”.
The Beginning of a New Life
When I woke up, we were pulling up to the emergency room. I saw the lights, we were going through the door. Next thing I remember was throwing up. This is when my life started over.
While I was out I had the most wonderful dreams. I dreamt of a Wall of Angels. This wall was white and pure. The faces of the angels were all different. Upon glaring at the wall, my shadows appeared. They walked up to the wall and proceeded to walk away from the wall. One of the angels came off the wall and grabbed the hand on one of my shadows and they all proceeded to be placed on the wall.
While I was out I remembered a man standing over me. He called my name and said “Yolanda, I’m the Chaplin would you like for me to pray for you?” I couldn’t speak, I nodded yes. Was he performing my last rites? For the 1st time I was questioning, “Am I dead? Or am I dying?”
I went back out and dreamt that my grandmother had a family meeting and she was telling us to all get along and take care of each other. Do not be fighting over property. I didn’t understand the message I was just so glad to see her. Then a voice came to me and said “If you don’t wake up your father is not going to make it.” Then I saw my father falling. The next thing I knew I woke up.
It Ain’t Over Until God Says It’s Over
My room was full of my family members. I couldn’t see very well and I asked what day it was. My sister said Saturday. I said I have been asleep for 2 days. She said “No, you have been out for 2 and half days.”
I couldn’t believe it. I said, “Oh my God. Call LaSonna tell her I won’t be at work, call Angela that I’m sorry I missed my appointment and why didn’t you all comb my hair?”
I had been singing the song, “It Ain’t Over” by Maurette Brown Clarke for 2 months before I got sick. I knew every word. My sister Dawn knew this. While she was driving home from the hospital, my song came on. She called and had Jerome put the phone to my ear. My song was playing. “It ain’t over until God says it’s over; It ain’t over until God says it’s done. ” It was music to my ears and so true.
I remember having numerous visitors and receiving many phone calls. I was in the intensive care unit (ICU) for four days.
A Medical Mystery
I finally got transferred to a regular room – it was like going from the Penthouse to the Ghetto. The attitudes of the nurses and the respiratory therapist were horrible. They were waking me up every 2 hours giving me medicine that was making me so sick. They were giving me medicine to make my blood sugar level high and then insulin to bring it down. I’m not diabetic and never have been.
I thought I was going to die from all the medications they were giving me. It got so bad that I had to refuse treatment. If I didn’t stop that would have killed me. Thank God for that decision. All I wanted was sleep and for them to leave me alone.
I was lying in the bed and my oxygen tub in my nose was moving by itself. I asked Jerome to look and asked him did he see that. He said yes. I told him to tell Vaneeka to come back in 2 hours that I needed some sleep. Vaneeka is my niece who had passed two years earlier due to complications from diabetes. She was present in the room.
I closed my eyes and the Angel closed the curtains. I woke up to see if there were curtains in the room and there were no curtains on the windows. I closed my eyes again and the Angel closed the curtains again and I went to sleep.
I was feeling distraught and very ill. I didn’t want to be feeling this sick. When the Doctor came in the next day, I asked him, “Did I die?” He said, “Yes and it wasn’t your time to go.”
What was the prognosis? The doctors never really could not explain what had happened that got me spending 4 days on life support. They suspected something had aggravated my system, but couldn’t tell what it was. They thought I had been poisoned. I have always been a believer, this just confirmed it. I know that my Angels were there with me. They followed me till the end and they’re still here with me now.
Yolanda Bethea is founder of Thoughtfully Yours Jewelry and More. “My designs are inspired just from seeing colors. I’ve always been crafty … I love working with my hands. I started with framed cards, gift baskets and children’s artwork. Making jewelry is therapy. No matter what’s going on in the world, I say a prayer and start designing jewelry. It takes all the worry away,” she says. “Hardly any two pieces are the same. They are all made with love, intricately designed for the beautiful woman who wears them.”
