Interview with Doyle Roth

By Brad Dupray

Doyle Roth’s life was dramatically changed June 17, 2004. He and wife Jean were on their way to see friends in Branson, Missouri, when a pickup truck crossed the center divider and smashed head on into their car. Three of Doyle’s limbs were severely broken, and he began a long convalescence that took him to places he had never been spiritually and emotionally. Though he continues to deal with residual effects from his injuries, he has returned to full time service as executive minister with Harvester Christian Church, St. Charles , Missouri , whose members have shown him loving care since the accident.

So you and Jean were heading to Branson to see some friends, and you took a little detour.

We were going to go down to see our son, Joseph, at New Life Ranch in Oklahoma on a Friday and Saturday. We decided we would leave on Thursday and see some friends living in Branson. We were about a mile and half from our hotel. We turned on to a road, and that’s the last I remember. A truck was coming toward us and for some reason came across the median and hit us head on. His bumper was in our windshield. Jean remembers the impact, the crushing, and the car being shoved backwards. She remembers thinking she couldn’t handle any more pressure. I was driving, and the driver’s side got it worse, so Jean was able to get her seatbelt off and get out of the car. Her fear was that the car was going to catch on fire so she wanted to get me out, but some bystanders said I needed to stay put until help arrived. She got back in the car and sat with me until the ambulances got there.

Did she think you were dead?

She never thought that. This is where God protected her. Sometimes he removes things you can’t handle. She began to think logically. I was unconscious at first. When I came to, she began to talk to me about what was going on. She had no fear, there was no crying. She thought she should take a couple pictures for insurance and ended up taking a whole roll. (They are great pictures!) She unloaded the car, never upset at all. God truly protected her from the emotion of the moment. She was so calm that she called home and told our daughter that we had been in a wreck. Joy (our daughter) didn’t think much of it. Jean called her a half hour later and said they were having difficulty getting me out of the car. That was the first clue Joy had that it was a bad accident. Through the entire process Jean ministered to me in every way and was always calm.

While in the car, when Jean told me we had been in a wreck, I just remember being very confused about it. I was very worried about her and afraid about what had happened.

What about the other guy, was he hurt?

Even though the other guy was not wearing his seatbelt, his only injury was a cut on his ear.

At what point did the church begin to help?

Right after it happened a gentleman from our church drove by (a retired firefighter, Lanny Graham). He was vacationing in Branson. He called home and got everyone praying for us. People on staff said they were praying for us even before I was out of the car. We truly believe God was answering those prayers.

They had trouble getting me out. It took 45 minutes. My legs were pinned under the dashboard and steering wheel. We asked Lanny later, “How did they get me out?” He said, “They finally had to pull you out,” and I said, “That must have hurt!”

When Lanny was calling home, one of our secretaries in the office, Gwen Morrow, was in Branson on vacation with her husband, Steve. Her phone was on call forwarding so she got the call in Branson and was at the hospital before my wife got there! Over the course of the next few days they took care of many things for us. They were so gracious to us. A number of preachers in the Springfield area were supportive too. That’s the great part of being in a church. It’s not just local, it’s everywhere.

What was the extent of your injuries?

Over the course of the next week I had to have surgery on my left leg. It was broken in three places, including a tibia plateau, so they had to put it back together. My right knee was fractured, my left arm was broken in three places at the shoulder, and I had a double concussion. At the hospital they told Jean I had spinal problems. They kept me flat on my back in a tight neck brace. But after a few days and a few more tests, they told us my spine was OK. We believe God took care of that.

Was Jean injured?

At the accident scene, she told an EMT she thought she had a broken rib. She remembers asking in the ambulance if they thought I would live or not. She was calm through it all. In the emergency room, after they took an X Ray, she requested to see me. From then on, she never left my side.

I was in the hospital for a week and Jean stayed with me and slept in a chair by my bed. After we got home she lay down on the bed for the first time and was in pain. She went to the doctor, and they found she had three broken ribs and a fractured sternum. She was so focused on caring for me she put off her own care. I am so grateful to her!

How did you make the transition to going home?

It’s a long way from a hospital in Springfield to home in St. Charles. I couldn’t sit up in the car, so a family in the church made a bed in the back of their van for the long ride home. By the time we got there the church had made our house handicap accessible, with the dining room outfitted with a hospital bed for me and a twin bed next to it for Jean. We lived in our dining room for the next three and one half months I hated that!

It sounds like the folks from Harvester really stepped up. I remember the first time the guys from church mowed the yard; I looked out the window and just cried, because it was hard to realize I couldn’t do anything. I was so grateful, but it was very humbling.

The church got me a laptop and set me up at home. They made me feel as if I was contributing even if I wasn’t. Few people, when they’re in an accident, have their employer feed them, mow their grass, and keep them going. But mine did.

What was your state of mind?

I really thought at first, I’m going to beat this. I’m going to have a good attitude. I’m going to be OK. I was supposed to help with the North American Christian Convention in Phoenix , and I thought I could do that.It was just a couple of weeks away. I really thought once I got home everything was going to be fine. I was so determined that I was going to beat this. After I was home for a couple of weeks it became clear to me that this was going to be a long and difficult process.

I remember talking to a nurse about three weeks into the recovery, being at wits end, asking, “When is this severe pain going to stop?” She said, “With multiple fractures, we cannot give enough medication to make it stop. It’s just going to hurt, and you will have to accept that.” I had to quit asking when it would stop hurting. That was very difficult.

I’m not a very emotional guy, but I became very emotional. Nights were very hard for me. I developed a fear of nights, because at night you become keenly aware of every ache and pain you have. It became a very difficult emotional struggle. I learned about a different part of life I didn’t know was there. If anybody came by I was cheery and pleasant, but I had some very hard times.

Did you ever want to just cash it in? Did you wish you had died?

I wouldn’t say that exactly. I just kept thinking how close Jean and I were to dying and that we could be in Heaven right now. You think about that a lot, and it changes you. In some ways I wish it would have happened. I have a whole different perspective of Heaven. I remember getting to the point when I could almost scream when people would say “You’re so lucky to be alive.” I would think, How could he call himself a Christian and say that? What could be so bad about being in Heaven right now? I was in absolute miserable pain. I couldn’t do anything for myself. Would Heaven be all that bad? God made us to live. But if we truly believe in Heaven we should long to be there. I wasn’t suicidal, but stopping and putting things in perspective made me truly long to be there. Heaven is what God created us for, and I am ready to go any day now.

What have you learned from a practical perspective?

Life looks different from a wheelchair. I would not trade the conversations I had with people in wheelchairs for anything. So many of them do not have the hope of improving physically in this life. Their handicap affects their whole family. I appreciate and value them so much more. I don’t know how they get the courage to do what they do. They would encourage me so much. They gave Jean info on how to get me around. I learned how incredibly important it is for places to be accessible to the handicapped.

What was worse, the physical pain or the emotional pain?

The physical for the first month. I was amazed at how extreme pain could be. I thought I was tough. But it was really difficult. Then it became mental and emotional because it stretched out. A month to two months into it was when I had the hardest time.

What did you learn about discouragement?

It’s real. I learned about a different level of dealing with pain. There are people in our church who have debilitating pain, and I learned what that was. Learning to cope with that is difficult. I learned how to plan our days. We had to work out a routine of how to live a different lifestyle. I was so determined that I was not going to get depressed. I just thought, No, I’m not going to go there. But I have to admit I came as close as I could get. It seemed like a sinkhole that would draw me in. But I never questioned God through this. And I don’t know how I would have got through this without Jean.

Were there “you’ve got to be kidding” moments, where people who acted inappropriately? I had a person bend over my wheelchair and yell at me as if I was deaf. People don’t know how to react to you. People patted me on the shoulder where my fractures were. In a wheelchair in a public place people either stare at you or ignore you as if you don’t exist.

What advice would you give to people making hospital calls?

I understand a whole different level of the hurt and pain of what goes on in hospital rooms. I’m different. Now when I go in I pray for rest, I pray for sleep at night. I pray for the emotional as much as the physical. I pray for the fear of night and what tomorrow is going to bring. It has shaped me.

You’ve been at Harvester for 18 years. Give me the dirt on Ben Merold.

He’s too gracious. How’s that for a fault? Ben’s been here 15 years; it’s great to work with one guy that long. He is a great man. I respect him now more than ever.

Brad Dupray is director of public relations and advertising with Provision Ministry Group, Irvine, California.