Matthew bounced around a lot as a kid with his dad being in the Navy, but after settling in Columbus things started getting crazy his senior year of high school when he began running a teenage night club full time and selling drugs part time.
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Phil Shuler (00:00):
HellO, and welcome to Renew, Restore, Rejoice, the
(00:03):
Safe House Ministries podcast,where we share stories of the
power of God to change livesthrough Safe House Ministries.
Safe House Ministries is basedout of Columbus, Georgia, and we
are a ministry that exists tolove and serve people who have
been affected by addiction,homelessness, and incarceration.
I'm your host, Phil Shuler, theDirector of Development for Safe
House Ministries here inColumbus, Georgia.
(00:24):
Safe House serves over 1, 100people each month as they
transition back into ourcommunity.
Safe House provides an abundanceof services including 213 beds
for homeless individuals andfamilies, case management for
obtaining job skills and longterm employment.
Over 300 hot meals every day,free clothing, and so much more.
One of the most incredibleservices that Safe House
(00:45):
provides is our free 9 12 monthintensive outpatient substance
abuse program, which is statelicensed, CARF accredited, and
has no wait list.
Almost 100 percent ofindividuals staying in our
shelters who follow our threephase program become fully
employed within a few months.
And 68 percent of individualswho stay at least one night with
us End up finding work andmoving into their own home.
(01:07):
Thank you for being with ustoday and listening to our
podcast.
We hope you enjoy this week'sepisode.
Hello and welcome to the podcastfor Safe House Ministries Today
I have someone that I just met,uh, about a week ago, Matthew
Anderson.
he is, uh, here at Safe HouseMinistries.
He's come through the programand he has an incredible story
(01:28):
to tell.
And Matthew, thanks for beinghere this morning.
Well, thank you again for theinvite.
So Matthew, let's kick it offwith our usual question.
Okay.
If there was one word that mightbest describe you, what do you
think that word would be?
Probably hopeful.
Hopeful?
Absolutely.
That's a good word.
And what makes you say that?
Um, you know, I've, uh, I've hada lot of adversity in my life
(01:51):
where, uh, I was told I wasn'tgonna be able to do things,
couldn't do things.
Um, and, uh, I've always gotthrough'em.
By the grace of God, of course.
Awesome.
That's good.
That's a good word.
Hopeful.
That makes me think of the Lordand just our hope in him.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Well, I tell you what, Matthewkick us off from the beginning.
Where were you born?
(02:11):
Newport, Rhode Island.
Newport, Rhode Island.
That's a great place to be born.
Did you grow up there or no?
Uh, both my parents were Navy.
Um, so we went from Newport toCharlesville, South Carolina,
Decatur, Decatur, Illinois,Madison, Wisconsin, uh, back to
North Jersey, south Jersey.
End up in Columbus, Georgia.
Okay.
(02:31):
So your childhood was kind ofall over the place.
All over the place in differentplaces.
All, all right.
So what was that like?
What was growing up with twoparents in the Navy, like hard
to make friends?
I'd say.
You know, you were always movingaround and as soon as you make
friends, you gotta get, get upand move again.
Yeah.
So, uh, that, that was probablythe hardest thing.
Yeah.
Were your parents, uh, was oneof them gone almost all the
(02:54):
time?
Like did taking turns like outon tours or sometimes were there
times when both of them weregone?
No, but I, I think by the time Iwas born, um, my mother had been
out of the Navy.
Um, and my dad was still until Iwas probably 12, 13.
And he was gone all the time.
Just about, yeah.
Out on deployments.
That's right.
Wow.
Okay.
So, so you were mostly raiseduntil you were about 12, just by
(03:18):
your mom.
'cause your dad was just goneAll the, for the most part.
Okay.
So what was, what was growingup?
Like?
I got six sisters, um, sixsisters, two brothers.
Absolutely.
Wow.
So a huge family.
Wait, so that's nine.
That's right.
Oh, you got that was more than,I've only got seven kids.
So your parents.
did better than me.
We only, we, we really only grewup with eight, but about, what
(03:40):
is it, 12 years ago, maybe 13years ago, my parents adopted
one of my friends at 40 yearsold.
Wow.
Um, just to be grandparents toher kids.
Yeah.
So, uh, yeah.
Awesome.
So now I got six sisters.
That's awesome.
So where do you fall in the mix?
Older, younger?
I'm, I am right in the middle.
Right in the middle.
Right in the middle.
How'd you like being in themiddle?
I don't think it really made toomuch of a difference on me.
(04:01):
Uh, I was always starred forattention.
Yeah.
Okay.
So tell me about home life.
What was that like?
I mean, it was, uh, we grew upCatholic.
Okay.
Um, so it was church everySunday.
Just if my parents were prettystrict growing up, um, as to
where we could be, what we coulddo, it was, we had normal life.
(04:23):
Yeah.
Um, I don't think we, we ever,ever really wanted for nothing.
I played sports all the time.
It was always taken care of.
it was life.
So growing up Catholic.
Yes sir.
were you, as you were growingup, pretty serious about that
faith?
Or were you just like, ah, youjust kind of got drug to church
and you didn't really like it?
What a great question.
So probably around 90 years oldis when you get to become an
(04:45):
altar boy at church and servewith the priest.
I followed one priest inparticular, father Carmel, and
thought I had my calling tobecome a priest.
And really, I used to go toevery mass and serve at every
mass, not'cause I had to,because I wanted to.
Wow.
Um, so I really, uh, I've, I, I,that's what I wanted to do until
I discovered women.
Wow.
(05:05):
Okay.
So you were on a pretty goodpath until about how old were
you when you started to kind oftake a wrong turn?
Probably when my moved here.
Probably 11 or 12 years old.
All right.
So what started happening?
Rebelling, um, wanted,'em,wanted to break away.
Um, yeah, I just, I, I didpeople, you know, people change
you trying, trying to makefriends, like I said, as, as a
(05:26):
kid moving around so much and,um, not having enough friends
all the time that stuck around.
It was hard when I moved here.
By the time I moved, moved here,people already had the cliques
for you.
In sixth grade, people alreadyknew who their friends were.
So for me to fit in me a, a boyfrom really, from Jersey at this
point, with a, with a Yankeeaccent, trying to fit in with
(05:46):
his, these southerners itwasn't, it wasn't easy.
So I had to, I kind of forced myway in it and probably be
someone who I wasn't really,wasn't, um, just to get friends.
Wow.
Okay.
And did you start making friendswith people that maybe were
already on a bad paththemselves?
Well, I'm not, I don't think Idid necessarily, uh, right,
right away.
Um, in fact, I gotta be friendswith some pretty good people.
(06:08):
Um, my best friend's dad is theone who ma growing up, my
parents, even being the militarydidn't force us to say, yes
ma'am.
No, no ma'am.
Yes sir.
No sir.
In fact my friends, was friendswith before I moved here, their
parents would call my, my fa myfolks and say, they're not
saying yes sir.
No sir.
And they'd say, well, we'rethey're not our privates.
We're not gonna make'em do that.
Um, they're not in the military.
(06:29):
Um, so they never did that.
That's the southern thing thatthat wasn't a northern thing.
100%.
Um, but, but even, even still inthe north on the, on the, on the
military basis, they, theywanted you to do that.
Yeah, but my parents justweren't down with that.
But my best friend's dad, hereally hammered that into us.
Uh, you know, then, um, that'sone thing that's really got got
me by in the South is knowingthat that's what I'm supposed to
do.
(06:50):
That's huge.
Just kind of fitting into theculture of the south.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I think, uh, probably whenthings started going wrong, um,
it was probably more, I movedoutta my parents' house my
senior year in high school.
Um, okay, so you did prettygood.
You didn't get into much troublein your high school years?
No.
I mean, my mother, my mother,uh.
Had her issues with me.
(07:11):
She took me for a tour of YDCone time, and, uh, I guess she
thought I was gonna end up onthe wrong path.
Wow.
Um, so now what, what were youdoing that made her feel that
way?
I can't really, I can't reallytell you'cause I thought I was a
pretty good kid for the mostpart.
Um, I was mischievous, but itis, uh, I didn't get in too much
of a trouble.
Yeah.
Maybe just, maybe just talkingback to them and just, uh, yeah.
(07:33):
Not respecting my parents as awhole.
Did you get a lot of suspensionsin school or never?
Never.
I got in some suspension once.
Um, I remember that was it.
Okay.
All right.
So your senior year things.
Really started to go the way.
Um, I was, I ran the BackdoorClub right here in Columbus,
Georgia at, at the HollywoodConnections.
As a senior.
Yes, I was.
What is the Backdoor Club?
It was, it was a teen club atthe Hollywood Connections.
(07:55):
It was actually my idea.
The president of Carmac Cinemas,Mike Patrick came to me, saw I
was a hard worker, said we'retaking the, uh, the laser tag
out and send out Salt Lake Cityat the other Hollywood
connections and said, we need avenue to go in here, so give me
an idea.
So I came up with an idea for ateen club, and it was actually
pretty successful.
And he said, well, we're gonnaput you in charge of it.
(08:17):
So I moved outta my folks' housestruggling just to pay bills.
I'm new at this.
And so I started using drugs,selling drugs, just to, as a So
you, did you drop outta schoolor did you?
No, absolutely not.
So you were a senior in highschool?
Yes.
And you moved out?
Yes.
You started running the backdoorclub?
Yes, sir.
And you started doing sellingdrugs to make extra money.
That's it.
Were you using them before yousold'em or you started selling
(08:39):
'em first?
Of course, of course.
I started using them to, andthat's how I became
knowledgeable about'em.
Um, and yeah, I smoked pot Ithink once, maybe twice in high
school, but it's, uh, I wasalways scared my parents will
find out, so, uh, I reallydidn't try to go down that
avenue too much.
So now I'm not in my parents'house no more.
Now I experiment.
Wow.
Okay.
So you, did you already know alot of people in high school
(09:01):
that were doing drugs or didyou, once you moved out, is that
when you got connected with alot of those folks?
I mean, I knew people.
They, not really at my school,you know, at the local, uh, pool
halls and stuff, they, they wereused.
But like I said, I was, I wasjust too scared.
Uh, being, being in my parents'house, I didn't know what they
would do.
So I guess I more startedassociating with these people
(09:21):
that were not as savory as Idon't have my parents thumb on
me.
Watch me all the time.
Okay.
Yeah.
So what did things look, uh,look like as you were getting
into that world and, and sellingdrugs?
And did it, did things just getbad really fast or was it kind
of a gradual progression?
Yeah, I, I, I jumped into thefull force and I, I was, I was,
(09:42):
uh, I was giving drugs to all myfriends.
I'd have the same 30 people atmy house every night partying,
uh, and, uh, wow.
30 people every night, everynight, same people.
And, uh, to come to find outnow, they, they weren't really
my friends, they were justaround me because of what I had.
Yeah.
But, uh, essentially I bought myfriends, you know, at this
point.
Which is what, I guess I've,what, what?
(10:03):
I just wanted people around, um,just living the party life.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Okay.
So keep explaining a little bitabout what that, that looks
like.
It's, uh, it was dark.
I, I got tired of doing it.
Um, I got really tired of doingthat after so many months.
It didn't last, even last thatlong.
So many months went by and I wastired of doing it.
(10:23):
I was just tired of spending themoney, tired of having to work
for the money, selling drugs forthe money.
It got exhausted.
And I remember I'd pray to Godevery night, get me outta the
situation, get me outta thesituation.
And, um, he did.
How many years of a time periodwere you in that it it was
months.
It was, it wasn't years.
It was maybe six months.
So, okay, so after six monthsyou were just, you didn't want
(10:47):
that anymore?
No, absolutely not.
Were you fearful for your lifeat any point of other people?
No.
Um, of, uh.
I don't think I was fearful ofmy life at all.
I just like, what about gettingcaught by the cops or, I, I
think my, my biggest factor was,uh, losing my job probably.
'cause without my, my, withoutmy regular job, I would've lost
a lot of respect by my boss,number one, who I really looked
(11:08):
up to, um, the people that Iworked with also.
Um, you know, just losing thatrespect and not having that
income itself.
That's what, that was my mainincome, whether I was selling
drugs or not.
That's what, that was legal andI knew it was okay.
Yeah.
So, um, yeah.
So was it the drug use that ledyou to lose that job?
It was this car accident thatcaused me to cause me to lose
that actually in then.
(11:28):
Okay.
So after six months or so, orseveral months, what happened
when you, you're wanting to getout?
What happened?
Like I said, I was praying toGod, I was praying.
Um, I actually borrowed thepetty cash money at, at the
club, um, in order to.
In order to start my drug sales.
So I was praying to God borrowedor stole, like, well, well it
(11:49):
was, it was always intended tobe paid back.
Um, and it, one night it did getpaid back.
This night I paid it back.
I got in a car accident.
Um Wow.
Put me in a coma for threemonths.
Wow.
Um, yeah, just out.
Were you out with, were you highat the time or It was, uh, it
was a Saturday night.
We, we left the club.
I closed the club down.
(12:10):
Um, went to a Mardi Gras partydowntown at the Bradley Theater.
Um, after, after afterwards Iwasn't even old enough to get
in.
But so we went out there.
I'm not a drinker, so we were,we were using the ecstasy.
But we, we left the Mardi Carparty after that.
Went to another friend's house'sparty till about five o'clock in
the morning.
At five o'clock in the morning,I went home, I went to bed.
I knew I had things to do thenext day.
(12:32):
And I get a call from mybrother-in-law about seven and
he asked me if I could come backand pick him and his friend up
to take them home.
'cause he knew I wasn't drunk.
So I said, yeah.
I went back to pick him up andtook them home, dropped my
brother-in-law.
I didn't even know his friend atall.
Then just met him that night andhe said, can you take him home?
(12:53):
I said, okay.
Didn't know where he lived, butso when I dropped my
brother-in-law off, he asked,borrow my phone, he said, can I
borrow your phone to call mywife to get in the house?
Absolutely.
So he use my phone, gets in thehouse, I take his friend out to
Au County, which is about 30minutes away.
I just bought this truck and Iwas driving about 12, 13 hours
earlier.
You bought the truck like theday before?
(13:13):
Yeah, hours earlier.
Oh wow.
Like half a day before.
Wow.
Um, and.
Take him home.
On the way home.
I put the car on cruise control,come back from about elder area,
go off the cliff, right back,right past Salor Road Bridge.
Um, they got guardrails up therenow because of me.
So I, wow.
I'm asleep, I'm asleep.
My buddy, my buddy's with me,um, he's asleep and we go off
(13:35):
the cliff.
I woke up when I heard the,heard the road where, where it
was vibrating on the road,hitting the side of the road.
And uh, I screamed to my buddywake up and we crashed into a
tree.
So when we crashed, I look overat my buddy and he's got blood
coming outta his nose and hismouth.
Um, just like seeing the movies,I kind of knew he was dead, but
at the same time, um, I knew Ihad to get help.
(13:58):
I'm an Eagle Scout with the BoyScouts America too.
Um, so I'm kind of trained formost emergency situations.
Yeah.
This one's a little above andbeyond what you're trained for.
But I looked over my shoulderand my hips were moved.
I tried to move my hips and theywouldn't move.
They're, they're just shattered.
Oh.
Um, so I see I went off a cliffand I gotta get up to this hill
if I'm gonna get my buddy helpand get my, myself help.
(14:19):
If my cell phone up calling nineone one.
I didn't have my cell phone.
My brother took it.
My brother-in-law took it in thehouse with him and he Oh, so and
you left without getting itback?
That's right.
Oh.
Now good news is I had extracell phone in my console.
I always hard heard that youcall nine one one from a cell
phone that doesn't have service.
Yeah.
At this point I don't know it tobe true.
Um, so I take the cell phone outand I look at it.
(14:41):
And I, I said, okay, I gotta getit cut on.
I cut the phone on back.
Then these cell phones took acouple minutes to cut on.
Um, so I cut it on, get itloaded, and I'm starting to try
to make plans.
So I grabbed the door handle toopen the door and the door
wouldn't open.
It was jam shut.
It was just jam shut.
So I'm like, man, well, were youpretty calm or were you, were
you freaking out a little bit?
(15:02):
I was, I was.
I, I mean, of course I'mfreaking out.
Um, because I don't know if thecell phone gonna call.
I don't know if I'm be able toget out a truck.
But at the same time, I wasstill very calm.
Um, I think still levellevelheaded enough to be able to
keep making good decisions.
I knew I had to, I knew, I knewI didn't have the choice.
Like I said, you, you, youdon't, you can't prepare for
situations like this.
But I knew that something had toget done.
Yeah.
(15:22):
So I did.
I was, I was calm, probably morecalm than most people would've
been.
'Cause I knew I had to moveslowly and methodically, you
know, order to get out of it.
Yeah.
Um, so I go up and grab the doorhandle again.
It done open, so I tried tothrow my shoulder in the door to
bust it open.
Well, when I did that, my hipsjust shot through with pain.
I could feel it just so painful.
And again, it didn't open.
(15:43):
So I look at the cell phone,it's still loading up.
I grabbed the door handle againthis time I grabbed it and I,
it, I barely even pulled on itand it falls over.
Yeah.
Wow.
Just falls over.
Um, so I look at my cell phoneand I know it's a cell phone
done.
Call nine one one.
I don't know what it's gonna do.
Um, I gotta cross at the top ofthis hill with my legs not
working.
So I throw the cell phone outthe car as far as I can.
(16:06):
Sounds stupid.
I know, but now I know I gottaget the cell phone.
This, this, this encouraged mebecause I'm gonna have to monkey
crawl up to the top of this hillif need be.
So I rock back and forth acouple times.
I throw myself under the ground,um, and I crawl over the phone
as, by the time I'm getting thisphone, it's just now B boo boo
cutting on.
And so I called 9 1 1.
(16:28):
9 1 1 answers.
It works.
Thank God.
Um, the lady says, what can I dofor you?
I got, I said I got a medicalemergency.
I need, uh, medical on thescene.
One person, one, one car, carwreck off of Manchester Espresso
way somewhere.
I don't know where I'm at.
Coming back from elderly area.
And she said, okay, we gotemergency on the way out there.
So I waited and this felt likeno time.
(16:49):
It had to be more time passedand it felt like 30 seconds and
they were there.
Wow.
Um, but they weren't actuallythere'cause we're off a cliff.
They can't see us.
So I, I hear'em scream by man,y'all just passed me.
Y'all like, like what's goingwell?
What's going on?
Like, I need y'all to turnaround.
She said, okay, we're gonna turnaround in the median and we'll
come back, get you.
So they turned around and getback on the side of the road
(17:10):
that I'm on and they screamedpast me again.
Oh man.
Um, so I said, look, next timey'all get caught.
So there must have been a bunchof foliage or something of, of
course we, we were 150, 50 feetback down back in the woods.
Wow.
Um, it's just, it, it would'vebeen impossible if, uh, God
wasn't there and ifcircumstances didn't help.
So they come back again and Isaid, this time when y'all come
back, I'm tell you y'all wannahear the siren getting closer.
(17:32):
I'm tell y'all wanna stop.
Um, she said, okay.
I said, now when you get here,you get down to my truck first
and get my buddy out.
'cause he's in, he needs tohelp.
I'll be fine getting me when,whenever.
Um, so very shortly afterwards.
You know, I tell her when, whenthey get close, you're close.
And she said, okay, we see you,we, we getting something down to
you.
Wow.
Um, I hear these footstepscoming down the hill.
(17:52):
Boom, boom, boom.
I said, damnit, I told y'all toget to the truck first.
Um, they said, well, we gotsomewhere with, with your buddy.
We're gonna get you outta here.
So some people went with him andsome people came check on you.
That's right.
That's right.
We got you Mr.
Anderson.
We're get you outta here.
Let's get you load on Gurney andget you outta here.
I don't remember much afterthat.
I kind of passed out and theydidn't give me the ambulance.
Get him in the ambulance.
(18:13):
Oh.
I do remember making a jokeabout the airbags on the
ambulance.
Um, air airbags in theambulance.
I made a joke about it.
Oh, okay.
I, I said something about howit's gonna hurt when we're going
down the road'cause of,'cause ofmy hips.
And they said, they, they saidNo, we got an air ride
suspension.
I made some joke about it, um,because I had, I had air ride
suspension on a truck that I hadjust purchased.
(18:33):
Yeah.
Um, and then I passed out.
Now when I passed out, so youdon't know anything about what's
going on with your friend atthis point?
No.
Okay.
But I wake up in this placethat's not worldly.
Um, not, not worldly.
Not worldly.
It's not heaven, it's not hell.
It's about 50 yards by 50 yards.
I got a wall on the right sidethat goes all the way down this
thing.
(18:54):
Um, and then I got a little roomup on the left, left side,
halfway up and I got theseentities behind my back.
I've never seen them, neverlooked at'em, wasn't paying
attention, but I know now theywere probably my guardian
angels.
But when we think of angels, wethink of them having these two
big wings, making these longstrokes, whatever these were,
were moving fast.
I could sense it likedragonflies just back and forth
(19:16):
and forth, like moving fast.
Like I said, I never seen'em,never saw'em, never paid
attention.
And I'm just looking ahead atwhat's going on and one of'em
steps over my right shoulder andshe's telling me, go up in this
room and wash up.
And for some reason I asked fora toothbrush.
I said, well, I need atoothbrush.
Why?
I don't know if I can't tellyou, but she says, no, go up in
this room.
I need to go up here and washup.
I said, again, well, well, okay,but I need a toothbrush.
(19:39):
She doesn't understand it.
Apparently, she'd never beenasked this question.
And, uh, because I, I could justsense that she's like, no, just,
I, like, I just need to go uphere and wash it out.
So the third time I go up thereand I go in the room, and first
of all, everything's made outtaclouds.
The wall, the floor, thebathroom, it's not even
bathroom, it's just room.
It's got a sink in it with afaucet, all made outta clouds.
And it's got this realcrystalline water coming out.
(20:01):
Um, so I go in there and I takethe water and my, I cut my
hands.
I wash basically just myshoulders of my hands, basically
just on both sides.
Wash my shoulders of my handsand my arms.
Um, at this time she's handed atoothbrush into me.
So I take the toothbrush, I rununder the water.
I brush my teeth real quick.
No tooth base, just the water.
I get done and she says, now youneed to go to the walk down this
hall hallway at the end of thiswall.
(20:23):
Over here on the right itdoesn't quite go to the end.
You got about a, maybe a foot ofspace where I could walk down.
The funny thing is if you lookout past all the cloud, like
whatever it was, it's justblack.
It's just an abyss.
And I'm terrified of heights.
I'm not really tall, I'm notterrified of heights, but you
can't see nothing, you know,where, don't know where you're
gonna fall to.
I'm, I'm scared enough ofheights that typically I'd be
(20:44):
scared, but I just listened toher.
I walked in this hallway and I'mnot fearful at all falling off,
but it's just blackness that I'mwalking this to.
I get about a hundred yardsaway.
Um, and I see my buddy way up onway up down there, about a
hundred yards away.
And he's just stammering lookingat the ground, like he's deep in
thought, just stammering around.
And I yell to him, I say, HeyKen, what's going on?
(21:05):
And he doesn't answer.
He's just looking at the grounddeep in thought, just
stammering.
So I get about 50 yards away.
And again, Hey Kim.
Ken, what's going on still?
He's just not paying me noattention.
So I get closer, I get about 20yards away and I stop.
Hey, Ken.
Ken.
What?
What's going on?
What are you doing?
Ken?
Is the friend that you wereriding with it is it, is he?
That was, that was my buddy, notmy brother-in-law's buddy.
(21:27):
This is my buddy that rode backwith me the one that was in the
accident with you?
That's right.
Um, so he's, he's just lookingat the ground and not paying me
no attention.
All of a sudden a voice comesout from the abyss, from the
blackness, the voice, just avoice that says, Kenneth, I need
to answer.
So I just kind of wonderedmyself, what an answer.
Answer what, what's going on?
You know, I was confused at thispoint, and, uh, Ken's just
(21:50):
looking at the ground, standingin a place, deep in thought,
minute or so goes by.
And again, the question comingfrom, from the voice, Kenneth, I
need to answer at this time.
I knew what the question was inmy heart.
I knew what was.
His choice is send me back orhim for him to live.
Um, it, it was his decision atthis moment.
So I tried to speak up, butnothing would come outta my
(22:11):
mouth.
I couldn't speak, I couldn't saynothing.
Um, but I wanted to say, youknow, this was my fault.
I caused accident.
I should die.
But I, I just couldn't, Icouldn't get the words out.
The words wouldn't come outta mymouth.
I was silenced.
So minute or so goes by, andagain, third time the voice
says, Kenneth, I need to answernow at this time, my buddy looks
up and he says, send him back.
(22:32):
So I'm now sent over my body toa outer body experience over at
Piedmont Hospital, which wasmedical Center back then.
And I see these, I see this bigbiker looking nurse putting
tubes of my nose, and he'stelling me I gotta swallow'em
into my stomach.
I need to get'em into mystomach.
And, telling my mother the storylater, she was, she was in the
room at this time when thishappening.
(22:53):
And I asked her about it when Icome outta the coma and she said
she's in awe.
She's wondering, like you,there's no way you could have
known this.
Like there's, how do you knowthat?
Like,'cause I described thenurse t had this big beard,
looked like a nurse, uh, lookedlike a biker.
And, uh, typical nurses don'tlook like this guy.
You know what I'm saying?
So yeah.
So she's like, there's no,there's no way you can know
(23:13):
about this.
That's definitely an atypicalnurse.
Absolutely.
So they are end up airlifting meto UAB and end up contracting
bacterial pneumonia, um, whichis really what almost killed me.
And then chemical pneumoniashortly after that.
The nurses were not supposed totouch me, just weren't supposed
to touch me at all.
Um, if they, if they moved me,they could disrupt the fluid in
(23:34):
my lungs and it could makethings worse.
Wow.
This whole time they're tellingmy parents, pull the plug on
him.
Pull the plug on him.
He's gonna, he's not gonna everbe able to think again.
He's never gonna be a walkagain.
He's gonna be a vegetable.
A burden on you, a burden onsociety.
Pull the plug on'em.
It's not worth it.
Meanwhile, time's gone by.
I'm So you heard all this?
No, no.
This is what my mother's tellingme later.
Okay.
Um, nurses and everybody justcaring about their day.
(23:55):
They come and get me mymedicines in my, in my IVs, you
know, food in my feeding tube,you know, liquid diet.
Um, as I'm in my coma andthey're not supposed to touch
me.
One day this nurse walks by and,uh, she rolls me on onto my
side.
She still does not, she, shedoesn't know why she did it,
'cause she wasn't supposed to.
But she rolls me on my side thisthree months later and slaps me
(24:17):
on the back.
All the fluid comes outta mylungs.
Every last bit of flu.
This when I turned this, thiswhen I took a turn for the
better.
And the doctors were hopeful.
Hopeful again.
Yeah.
Um, but the, the, the reallystrange thing is this, this
nurse's name is Angel.
Wow.
Absolutely.
Um, but yeah, so, um, thedoctors, uh, when I come outta
(24:38):
my coma finally, and I'm acoherent, I give my mother a
bunch of names and numbers offthe top of my head that are,
that were correct.
Telling her to go tell, callthese friends, you my friends,
go tell them that I'm okay.
All these numbers come back, becorrect.
So the neurologist, Dr.
Novak up there comes into myroom and he's like, Mr.
Anderson, you know, we're gladthat, uh, we, you're gonna,
(24:59):
you're gonna make it, you'regonna be better than we thought.
Wow.
Um, so, um, you know, as far asmy brain goes, they were totally
wrong as, but they, he's,they're still not thinking I'm
ever gonna walk again.
So you, you must have had like aserious head trauma supposedly.
Your hip was broken?
Yes.
Probably all kinds of things, Iguess.
Yes, yes.
I, I had, I had shattered both,both pelvises.
(25:20):
There's just no way.
Wow.
So, and how long were you in, ina coma or out?
Three months.
Three months.
Three months.
Wow.
And so it was after the threemonths when you woke up with the
biker nurse and putting thetubes, it was that, well, that,
that was originally, that wasthe, that was at the moment in
the er.
Okay.
That was, that was the, my firststep.
Oh, okay.
And then from there you were outfor three months.
(25:41):
That's it.
That's it.
So then, uh, so I was inrehabilitation for just a short
period of time before the,before they sent me home, um,
not expecting me to walk again.
You know, I'd go home in awheelchair.
I'm in a wheelchair for a longtime.
And, um, now at this point, whendid you find out about your
friend or what had happened toyou immediately?
That was, that was the firstquestion I asked, um, when you
woke up.
When I woke.
Absolutely.
(26:01):
How's Ken?
Um, and my mother had told methat he passed, you know, um, so
yeah, that was, that was prettyhard to take, but I, I kind of
had already known it.
Like I said, when we crashed,he, he had the blood coming out
his nose and his mouth.
I, I already kind of knew it andobviously I had this experience
wherever it was that he gave hislife for my life as far as I'm
(26:22):
concerned.
'cause he made a choice.
So, um, yeah, I, I had alreadyknown it, it had already settled
at the end.
Um, it's still, it still weighson me.
I, I got a syndrome call doessurvivor's remorse, um, is what
they call it.
So it's definitely hard to dealwith.
Yeah.
But, um, it is what it is.
So, yeah, still I'm not supposedto walk at this point.
(26:42):
Wow.
And Dr.
Jorge Alonzo comes along to UABand he looks at my x-ray x-rays
and he says, you know, I think Icould do something with this.
And that is the end of part oneof Matthew's story.
What an amazing miracle of Godto save his life in the midst of
all that happened from thattragic truck accident And what a
(27:05):
continued miracle that Godbrought him out of that coma and
God just restored his mind.
Greater than the doctors couldhave ever imagined.
You'll hear more of the miraclesof God as Matt's story continues
next week, and you'll also hearmore tragedy though as he begins
to deal with.
(27:26):
The aftermath of trying to livein a wheelchair and going back
to live with his parents, andjust a darkness that envelops
him, which leads to many, manyyears of meth addiction.
So come back next week.
We look forward to being withyou again, and God bless you
today.
We look forward to being with you again next week
(27:48):
as we share another testimonyabout the power and the goodness
of God to change lives throughSafe House Ministries.
if you are someone listening tothis podcast that loves to hear
these stories of the greatthings that God is doing in
changing people's lives for thebetter, and if you would like to
be a part of that work, pleasereach out to us You can reach us
(28:08):
at 2101 Hamilton Road, Columbus,Georgia, 31,904.
You can call us at seven oh sixthree two two.
3 7, 7 3, or you can email us atinfo@safehouse-ministries.com.
Microphone (Samson Q2U Mi (28:24):
Thank you so much for being with us
this week for the renew restoreand rejoice podcast of safe
house ministries, we pray thatGod will bless you this week.
And we look forward to havingyou back with us again next week
for a new episode.
HellO, and welcome to Renew, Restore, Rejoice, the
(00:03):
Safe House Ministries podcast,where we share stories of the
power of God to change livesthrough Safe House Ministries.
Safe House Ministries is basedout of Columbus, Georgia, and we
are a ministry that exists tolove and serve people who have
been affected by addiction,homelessness, and incarceration.
I'm your host, Phil Shuler, theDirector of Development for Safe
House Ministries here inColumbus, Georgia.
(00:24):
Safe House serves over 1, 100people each month as they
transition back into ourcommunity.
Safe House provides an abundanceof services including 213 beds
for homeless individuals andfamilies, case management for
obtaining job skills and longterm employment.
Over 300 hot meals every day,free clothing, and so much more.
One of the most incredibleservices that Safe House
(00:45):
provides is our free 9 12 monthintensive outpatient substance
abuse program, which is statelicensed, CARF accredited, and
has no wait list.
Almost 100 percent ofindividuals staying in our
shelters who follow our threephase program become fully
employed within a few months.
And 68 percent of individualswho stay at least one night with
us End up finding work andmoving into their own home.
(01:07):
Thank you for being with ustoday and listening to our
podcast.
We hope you enjoy this week'sepisode.
Hello and welcome to the podcastfor Safe House Ministries Today
I have someone that I just met,uh, about a week ago, Matthew
Anderson.
he is, uh, here at Safe HouseMinistries.
He's come through the programand he has an incredible story
(01:28):
to tell.
And Matthew, thanks for beinghere this morning.
Well, thank you again for theinvite.
So Matthew, let's kick it offwith our usual question.
Okay.
If there was one word that mightbest describe you, what do you
think that word would be?
Probably hopeful.
Hopeful?
Absolutely.
That's a good word.
And what makes you say that?
Um, you know, I've, uh, I've hada lot of adversity in my life
(01:51):
where, uh, I was told I wasn'tgonna be able to do things,
couldn't do things.
Um, and, uh, I've always gotthrough'em.
By the grace of God, of course.
Awesome.
That's good.
That's a good word.
Hopeful.
That makes me think of the Lordand just our hope in him.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Well, I tell you what, Matthewkick us off from the beginning.
Where were you born?
(02:11):
Newport, Rhode Island.
Newport, Rhode Island.
That's a great place to be born.
Did you grow up there or no?
Uh, both my parents were Navy.
Um, so we went from Newport toCharlesville, South Carolina,
Decatur, Decatur, Illinois,Madison, Wisconsin, uh, back to
North Jersey, south Jersey.
End up in Columbus, Georgia.
Okay.
(02:31):
So your childhood was kind ofall over the place.
All over the place in differentplaces.
All, all right.
So what was that like?
What was growing up with twoparents in the Navy, like hard
to make friends?
I'd say.
You know, you were always movingaround and as soon as you make
friends, you gotta get, get upand move again.
Yeah.
So, uh, that, that was probablythe hardest thing.
Yeah.
Were your parents, uh, was oneof them gone almost all the
(02:54):
time?
Like did taking turns like outon tours or sometimes were there
times when both of them weregone?
No, but I, I think by the time Iwas born, um, my mother had been
out of the Navy.
Um, and my dad was still until Iwas probably 12, 13.
And he was gone all the time.
Just about, yeah.
Out on deployments.
That's right.
Wow.
Okay.
So, so you were mostly raiseduntil you were about 12, just by
(03:18):
your mom.
'cause your dad was just goneAll the, for the most part.
Okay.
So what was, what was growingup?
Like?
I got six sisters, um, sixsisters, two brothers.
Absolutely.
Wow.
So a huge family.
Wait, so that's nine.
That's right.
Oh, you got that was more than,I've only got seven kids.
So your parents.
did better than me.
We only, we, we really only grewup with eight, but about, what
(03:40):
is it, 12 years ago, maybe 13years ago, my parents adopted
one of my friends at 40 yearsold.
Wow.
Um, just to be grandparents toher kids.
Yeah.
So, uh, yeah.
Awesome.
So now I got six sisters.
That's awesome.
So where do you fall in the mix?
Older, younger?
I'm, I am right in the middle.
Right in the middle.
Right in the middle.
How'd you like being in themiddle?
I don't think it really made toomuch of a difference on me.
(04:01):
Uh, I was always starred forattention.
Yeah.
Okay.
So tell me about home life.
What was that like?
I mean, it was, uh, we grew upCatholic.
Okay.
Um, so it was church everySunday.
Just if my parents were prettystrict growing up, um, as to
where we could be, what we coulddo, it was, we had normal life.
(04:23):
Yeah.
Um, I don't think we, we ever,ever really wanted for nothing.
I played sports all the time.
It was always taken care of.
it was life.
So growing up Catholic.
Yes sir.
were you, as you were growingup, pretty serious about that
faith?
Or were you just like, ah, youjust kind of got drug to church
and you didn't really like it?
What a great question.
So probably around 90 years oldis when you get to become an
(04:45):
altar boy at church and servewith the priest.
I followed one priest inparticular, father Carmel, and
thought I had my calling tobecome a priest.
And really, I used to go toevery mass and serve at every
mass, not'cause I had to,because I wanted to.
Wow.
Um, so I really, uh, I've, I, I,that's what I wanted to do until
I discovered women.
Wow.
(05:05):
Okay.
So you were on a pretty goodpath until about how old were
you when you started to kind oftake a wrong turn?
Probably when my moved here.
Probably 11 or 12 years old.
All right.
So what started happening?
Rebelling, um, wanted,'em,wanted to break away.
Um, yeah, I just, I, I didpeople, you know, people change
you trying, trying to makefriends, like I said, as, as a
(05:26):
kid moving around so much and,um, not having enough friends
all the time that stuck around.
It was hard when I moved here.
By the time I moved, moved here,people already had the cliques
for you.
In sixth grade, people alreadyknew who their friends were.
So for me to fit in me a, a boyfrom really, from Jersey at this
point, with a, with a Yankeeaccent, trying to fit in with
(05:46):
his, these southerners itwasn't, it wasn't easy.
So I had to, I kind of forced myway in it and probably be
someone who I wasn't really,wasn't, um, just to get friends.
Wow.
Okay.
And did you start making friendswith people that maybe were
already on a bad paththemselves?
Well, I'm not, I don't think Idid necessarily, uh, right,
right away.
Um, in fact, I gotta be friendswith some pretty good people.
(06:08):
Um, my best friend's dad is theone who ma growing up, my
parents, even being the militarydidn't force us to say, yes
ma'am.
No, no ma'am.
Yes sir.
No sir.
In fact my friends, was friendswith before I moved here, their
parents would call my, my fa myfolks and say, they're not
saying yes sir.
No sir.
And they'd say, well, we'rethey're not our privates.
We're not gonna make'em do that.
Um, they're not in the military.
(06:29):
Um, so they never did that.
That's the southern thing thatthat wasn't a northern thing.
100%.
Um, but, but even, even still inthe north on the, on the, on the
military basis, they, theywanted you to do that.
Yeah, but my parents justweren't down with that.
But my best friend's dad, hereally hammered that into us.
Uh, you know, then, um, that'sone thing that's really got got
me by in the South is knowingthat that's what I'm supposed to
do.
(06:50):
That's huge.
Just kind of fitting into theculture of the south.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I think, uh, probably whenthings started going wrong, um,
it was probably more, I movedoutta my parents' house my
senior year in high school.
Um, okay, so you did prettygood.
You didn't get into much troublein your high school years?
No.
I mean, my mother, my mother,uh.
Had her issues with me.
(07:11):
She took me for a tour of YDCone time, and, uh, I guess she
thought I was gonna end up onthe wrong path.
Wow.
Um, so now what, what were youdoing that made her feel that
way?
I can't really, I can't reallytell you'cause I thought I was a
pretty good kid for the mostpart.
Um, I was mischievous, but itis, uh, I didn't get in too much
of a trouble.
Yeah.
Maybe just, maybe just talkingback to them and just, uh, yeah.
(07:33):
Not respecting my parents as awhole.
Did you get a lot of suspensionsin school or never?
Never.
I got in some suspension once.
Um, I remember that was it.
Okay.
All right.
So your senior year things.
Really started to go the way.
Um, I was, I ran the BackdoorClub right here in Columbus,
Georgia at, at the HollywoodConnections.
As a senior.
Yes, I was.
What is the Backdoor Club?
It was, it was a teen club atthe Hollywood Connections.
(07:55):
It was actually my idea.
The president of Carmac Cinemas,Mike Patrick came to me, saw I
was a hard worker, said we'retaking the, uh, the laser tag
out and send out Salt Lake Cityat the other Hollywood
connections and said, we need avenue to go in here, so give me
an idea.
So I came up with an idea for ateen club, and it was actually
pretty successful.
And he said, well, we're gonnaput you in charge of it.
(08:17):
So I moved outta my folks' housestruggling just to pay bills.
I'm new at this.
And so I started using drugs,selling drugs, just to, as a So
you, did you drop outta schoolor did you?
No, absolutely not.
So you were a senior in highschool?
Yes.
And you moved out?
Yes.
You started running the backdoorclub?
Yes, sir.
And you started doing sellingdrugs to make extra money.
That's it.
Were you using them before yousold'em or you started selling
(08:39):
'em first?
Of course, of course.
I started using them to, andthat's how I became
knowledgeable about'em.
Um, and yeah, I smoked pot Ithink once, maybe twice in high
school, but it's, uh, I wasalways scared my parents will
find out, so, uh, I reallydidn't try to go down that
avenue too much.
So now I'm not in my parents'house no more.
Now I experiment.
Wow.
Okay.
So you, did you already know alot of people in high school
(09:01):
that were doing drugs or didyou, once you moved out, is that
when you got connected with alot of those folks?
I mean, I knew people.
They, not really at my school,you know, at the local, uh, pool
halls and stuff, they, they wereused.
But like I said, I was, I wasjust too scared.
Uh, being, being in my parents'house, I didn't know what they
would do.
So I guess I more startedassociating with these people
(09:21):
that were not as savory as Idon't have my parents thumb on
me.
Watch me all the time.
Okay.
Yeah.
So what did things look, uh,look like as you were getting
into that world and, and sellingdrugs?
And did it, did things just getbad really fast or was it kind
of a gradual progression?
Yeah, I, I, I jumped into thefull force and I, I was, I was,
(09:42):
uh, I was giving drugs to all myfriends.
I'd have the same 30 people atmy house every night partying,
uh, and, uh, wow.
30 people every night, everynight, same people.
And, uh, to come to find outnow, they, they weren't really
my friends, they were justaround me because of what I had.
Yeah.
But, uh, essentially I bought myfriends, you know, at this
point.
Which is what, I guess I've,what, what?
(10:03):
I just wanted people around, um,just living the party life.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Okay.
So keep explaining a little bitabout what that, that looks
like.
It's, uh, it was dark.
I, I got tired of doing it.
Um, I got really tired of doingthat after so many months.
It didn't last, even last thatlong.
So many months went by and I wastired of doing it.
(10:23):
I was just tired of spending themoney, tired of having to work
for the money, selling drugs forthe money.
It got exhausted.
And I remember I'd pray to Godevery night, get me outta the
situation, get me outta thesituation.
And, um, he did.
How many years of a time periodwere you in that it it was
months.
It was, it wasn't years.
It was maybe six months.
So, okay, so after six monthsyou were just, you didn't want
(10:47):
that anymore?
No, absolutely not.
Were you fearful for your lifeat any point of other people?
No.
Um, of, uh.
I don't think I was fearful ofmy life at all.
I just like, what about gettingcaught by the cops or, I, I
think my, my biggest factor was,uh, losing my job probably.
'cause without my, my, withoutmy regular job, I would've lost
a lot of respect by my boss,number one, who I really looked
(11:08):
up to, um, the people that Iworked with also.
Um, you know, just losing thatrespect and not having that
income itself.
That's what, that was my mainincome, whether I was selling
drugs or not.
That's what, that was legal andI knew it was okay.
Yeah.
So, um, yeah.
So was it the drug use that ledyou to lose that job?
It was this car accident thatcaused me to cause me to lose
that actually in then.
(11:28):
Okay.
So after six months or so, orseveral months, what happened
when you, you're wanting to getout?
What happened?
Like I said, I was praying toGod, I was praying.
Um, I actually borrowed thepetty cash money at, at the
club, um, in order to.
In order to start my drug sales.
So I was praying to God borrowedor stole, like, well, well it
(11:49):
was, it was always intended tobe paid back.
Um, and it, one night it did getpaid back.
This night I paid it back.
I got in a car accident.
Um Wow.
Put me in a coma for threemonths.
Wow.
Um, yeah, just out.
Were you out with, were you highat the time or It was, uh, it
was a Saturday night.
We, we left the club.
I closed the club down.
(12:10):
Um, went to a Mardi Gras partydowntown at the Bradley Theater.
Um, after, after afterwards Iwasn't even old enough to get
in.
But so we went out there.
I'm not a drinker, so we were,we were using the ecstasy.
But we, we left the Mardi Carparty after that.
Went to another friend's house'sparty till about five o'clock in
the morning.
At five o'clock in the morning,I went home, I went to bed.
I knew I had things to do thenext day.
(12:32):
And I get a call from mybrother-in-law about seven and
he asked me if I could come backand pick him and his friend up
to take them home.
'cause he knew I wasn't drunk.
So I said, yeah.
I went back to pick him up andtook them home, dropped my
brother-in-law.
I didn't even know his friend atall.
Then just met him that night andhe said, can you take him home?
(12:53):
I said, okay.
Didn't know where he lived, butso when I dropped my
brother-in-law off, he asked,borrow my phone, he said, can I
borrow your phone to call mywife to get in the house?
Absolutely.
So he use my phone, gets in thehouse, I take his friend out to
Au County, which is about 30minutes away.
I just bought this truck and Iwas driving about 12, 13 hours
earlier.
You bought the truck like theday before?
(13:13):
Yeah, hours earlier.
Oh wow.
Like half a day before.
Wow.
Um, and.
Take him home.
On the way home.
I put the car on cruise control,come back from about elder area,
go off the cliff, right back,right past Salor Road Bridge.
Um, they got guardrails up therenow because of me.
So I, wow.
I'm asleep, I'm asleep.
My buddy, my buddy's with me,um, he's asleep and we go off
(13:35):
the cliff.
I woke up when I heard the,heard the road where, where it
was vibrating on the road,hitting the side of the road.
And uh, I screamed to my buddywake up and we crashed into a
tree.
So when we crashed, I look overat my buddy and he's got blood
coming outta his nose and hismouth.
Um, just like seeing the movies,I kind of knew he was dead, but
at the same time, um, I knew Ihad to get help.
(13:58):
I'm an Eagle Scout with the BoyScouts America too.
Um, so I'm kind of trained formost emergency situations.
Yeah.
This one's a little above andbeyond what you're trained for.
But I looked over my shoulderand my hips were moved.
I tried to move my hips and theywouldn't move.
They're, they're just shattered.
Oh.
Um, so I see I went off a cliffand I gotta get up to this hill
if I'm gonna get my buddy helpand get my, myself help.
(14:19):
If my cell phone up calling nineone one.
I didn't have my cell phone.
My brother took it.
My brother-in-law took it in thehouse with him and he Oh, so and
you left without getting itback?
That's right.
Oh.
Now good news is I had extracell phone in my console.
I always hard heard that youcall nine one one from a cell
phone that doesn't have service.
Yeah.
At this point I don't know it tobe true.
Um, so I take the cell phone outand I look at it.
(14:41):
And I, I said, okay, I gotta getit cut on.
I cut the phone on back.
Then these cell phones took acouple minutes to cut on.
Um, so I cut it on, get itloaded, and I'm starting to try
to make plans.
So I grabbed the door handle toopen the door and the door
wouldn't open.
It was jam shut.
It was just jam shut.
So I'm like, man, well, were youpretty calm or were you, were
you freaking out a little bit?
(15:02):
I was, I was.
I, I mean, of course I'mfreaking out.
Um, because I don't know if thecell phone gonna call.
I don't know if I'm be able toget out a truck.
But at the same time, I wasstill very calm.
Um, I think still levellevelheaded enough to be able to
keep making good decisions.
I knew I had to, I knew, I knewI didn't have the choice.
Like I said, you, you, youdon't, you can't prepare for
situations like this.
But I knew that something had toget done.
Yeah.
(15:22):
So I did.
I was, I was calm, probably morecalm than most people would've
been.
'Cause I knew I had to moveslowly and methodically, you
know, order to get out of it.
Yeah.
Um, so I go up and grab the doorhandle again.
It done open, so I tried tothrow my shoulder in the door to
bust it open.
Well, when I did that, my hipsjust shot through with pain.
I could feel it just so painful.
And again, it didn't open.
(15:43):
So I look at the cell phone,it's still loading up.
I grabbed the door handle againthis time I grabbed it and I,
it, I barely even pulled on itand it falls over.
Yeah.
Wow.
Just falls over.
Um, so I look at my cell phoneand I know it's a cell phone
done.
Call nine one one.
I don't know what it's gonna do.
Um, I gotta cross at the top ofthis hill with my legs not
working.
So I throw the cell phone outthe car as far as I can.
(16:06):
Sounds stupid.
I know, but now I know I gottaget the cell phone.
This, this, this encouraged mebecause I'm gonna have to monkey
crawl up to the top of this hillif need be.
So I rock back and forth acouple times.
I throw myself under the ground,um, and I crawl over the phone
as, by the time I'm getting thisphone, it's just now B boo boo
cutting on.
And so I called 9 1 1.
(16:28):
9 1 1 answers.
It works.
Thank God.
Um, the lady says, what can I dofor you?
I got, I said I got a medicalemergency.
I need, uh, medical on thescene.
One person, one, one car, carwreck off of Manchester Espresso
way somewhere.
I don't know where I'm at.
Coming back from elderly area.
And she said, okay, we gotemergency on the way out there.
So I waited and this felt likeno time.
(16:49):
It had to be more time passedand it felt like 30 seconds and
they were there.
Wow.
Um, but they weren't actuallythere'cause we're off a cliff.
They can't see us.
So I, I hear'em scream by man,y'all just passed me.
Y'all like, like what's goingwell?
What's going on?
Like, I need y'all to turnaround.
She said, okay, we're gonna turnaround in the median and we'll
come back, get you.
So they turned around and getback on the side of the road
(17:10):
that I'm on and they screamedpast me again.
Oh man.
Um, so I said, look, next timey'all get caught.
So there must have been a bunchof foliage or something of, of
course we, we were 150, 50 feetback down back in the woods.
Wow.
Um, it's just, it, it would'vebeen impossible if, uh, God
wasn't there and ifcircumstances didn't help.
So they come back again and Isaid, this time when y'all come
back, I'm tell you y'all wannahear the siren getting closer.
(17:32):
I'm tell y'all wanna stop.
Um, she said, okay.
I said, now when you get here,you get down to my truck first
and get my buddy out.
'cause he's in, he needs tohelp.
I'll be fine getting me when,whenever.
Um, so very shortly afterwards.
You know, I tell her when, whenthey get close, you're close.
And she said, okay, we see you,we, we getting something down to
you.
Wow.
Um, I hear these footstepscoming down the hill.
(17:52):
Boom, boom, boom.
I said, damnit, I told y'all toget to the truck first.
Um, they said, well, we gotsomewhere with, with your buddy.
We're gonna get you outta here.
So some people went with him andsome people came check on you.
That's right.
That's right.
We got you Mr.
Anderson.
We're get you outta here.
Let's get you load on Gurney andget you outta here.
I don't remember much afterthat.
I kind of passed out and theydidn't give me the ambulance.
Get him in the ambulance.
(18:13):
Oh.
I do remember making a jokeabout the airbags on the
ambulance.
Um, air airbags in theambulance.
I made a joke about it.
Oh, okay.
I, I said something about howit's gonna hurt when we're going
down the road'cause of,'cause ofmy hips.
And they said, they, they saidNo, we got an air ride
suspension.
I made some joke about it, um,because I had, I had air ride
suspension on a truck that I hadjust purchased.
(18:33):
Yeah.
Um, and then I passed out.
Now when I passed out, so youdon't know anything about what's
going on with your friend atthis point?
No.
Okay.
But I wake up in this placethat's not worldly.
Um, not, not worldly.
Not worldly.
It's not heaven, it's not hell.
It's about 50 yards by 50 yards.
I got a wall on the right sidethat goes all the way down this
thing.
(18:54):
Um, and then I got a little roomup on the left, left side,
halfway up and I got theseentities behind my back.
I've never seen them, neverlooked at'em, wasn't paying
attention, but I know now theywere probably my guardian
angels.
But when we think of angels, wethink of them having these two
big wings, making these longstrokes, whatever these were,
were moving fast.
I could sense it likedragonflies just back and forth
(19:16):
and forth, like moving fast.
Like I said, I never seen'em,never saw'em, never paid
attention.
And I'm just looking ahead atwhat's going on and one of'em
steps over my right shoulder andshe's telling me, go up in this
room and wash up.
And for some reason I asked fora toothbrush.
I said, well, I need atoothbrush.
Why?
I don't know if I can't tellyou, but she says, no, go up in
this room.
I need to go up here and washup.
I said, again, well, well, okay,but I need a toothbrush.
(19:39):
She doesn't understand it.
Apparently, she'd never beenasked this question.
And, uh, because I, I could justsense that she's like, no, just,
I, like, I just need to go uphere and wash it out.
So the third time I go up thereand I go in the room, and first
of all, everything's made outtaclouds.
The wall, the floor, thebathroom, it's not even
bathroom, it's just room.
It's got a sink in it with afaucet, all made outta clouds.
And it's got this realcrystalline water coming out.
(20:01):
Um, so I go in there and I takethe water and my, I cut my
hands.
I wash basically just myshoulders of my hands, basically
just on both sides.
Wash my shoulders of my handsand my arms.
Um, at this time she's handed atoothbrush into me.
So I take the toothbrush, I rununder the water.
I brush my teeth real quick.
No tooth base, just the water.
I get done and she says, now youneed to go to the walk down this
hall hallway at the end of thiswall.
(20:23):
Over here on the right itdoesn't quite go to the end.
You got about a, maybe a foot ofspace where I could walk down.
The funny thing is if you lookout past all the cloud, like
whatever it was, it's justblack.
It's just an abyss.
And I'm terrified of heights.
I'm not really tall, I'm notterrified of heights, but you
can't see nothing, you know,where, don't know where you're
gonna fall to.
I'm, I'm scared enough ofheights that typically I'd be
(20:44):
scared, but I just listened toher.
I walked in this hallway and I'mnot fearful at all falling off,
but it's just blackness that I'mwalking this to.
I get about a hundred yardsaway.
Um, and I see my buddy way up onway up down there, about a
hundred yards away.
And he's just stammering lookingat the ground, like he's deep in
thought, just stammering around.
And I yell to him, I say, HeyKen, what's going on?
(21:05):
And he doesn't answer.
He's just looking at the grounddeep in thought, just
stammering.
So I get about 50 yards away.
And again, Hey Kim.
Ken, what's going on still?
He's just not paying me noattention.
So I get closer, I get about 20yards away and I stop.
Hey, Ken.
Ken.
What?
What's going on?
What are you doing?
Ken?
Is the friend that you wereriding with it is it, is he?
That was, that was my buddy, notmy brother-in-law's buddy.
(21:27):
This is my buddy that rode backwith me the one that was in the
accident with you?
That's right.
Um, so he's, he's just lookingat the ground and not paying me
no attention.
All of a sudden a voice comesout from the abyss, from the
blackness, the voice, just avoice that says, Kenneth, I need
to answer.
So I just kind of wonderedmyself, what an answer.
Answer what, what's going on?
You know, I was confused at thispoint, and, uh, Ken's just
(21:50):
looking at the ground, standingin a place, deep in thought,
minute or so goes by.
And again, the question comingfrom, from the voice, Kenneth, I
need to answer at this time.
I knew what the question was inmy heart.
I knew what was.
His choice is send me back orhim for him to live.
Um, it, it was his decision atthis moment.
So I tried to speak up, butnothing would come outta my
(22:11):
mouth.
I couldn't speak, I couldn't saynothing.
Um, but I wanted to say, youknow, this was my fault.
I caused accident.
I should die.
But I, I just couldn't, Icouldn't get the words out.
The words wouldn't come outta mymouth.
I was silenced.
So minute or so goes by, andagain, third time the voice
says, Kenneth, I need to answernow at this time, my buddy looks
up and he says, send him back.
(22:32):
So I'm now sent over my body toa outer body experience over at
Piedmont Hospital, which wasmedical Center back then.
And I see these, I see this bigbiker looking nurse putting
tubes of my nose, and he'stelling me I gotta swallow'em
into my stomach.
I need to get'em into mystomach.
And, telling my mother the storylater, she was, she was in the
room at this time when thishappening.
(22:53):
And I asked her about it when Icome outta the coma and she said
she's in awe.
She's wondering, like you,there's no way you could have
known this.
Like there's, how do you knowthat?
Like,'cause I described thenurse t had this big beard,
looked like a nurse, uh, lookedlike a biker.
And, uh, typical nurses don'tlook like this guy.
You know what I'm saying?
So yeah.
So she's like, there's no,there's no way you can know
(23:13):
about this.
That's definitely an atypicalnurse.
Absolutely.
So they are end up airlifting meto UAB and end up contracting
bacterial pneumonia, um, whichis really what almost killed me.
And then chemical pneumoniashortly after that.
The nurses were not supposed totouch me, just weren't supposed
to touch me at all.
Um, if they, if they moved me,they could disrupt the fluid in
(23:34):
my lungs and it could makethings worse.
Wow.
This whole time they're tellingmy parents, pull the plug on
him.
Pull the plug on him.
He's gonna, he's not gonna everbe able to think again.
He's never gonna be a walkagain.
He's gonna be a vegetable.
A burden on you, a burden onsociety.
Pull the plug on'em.
It's not worth it.
Meanwhile, time's gone by.
I'm So you heard all this?
No, no.
This is what my mother's tellingme later.
Okay.
Um, nurses and everybody justcaring about their day.
(23:55):
They come and get me mymedicines in my, in my IVs, you
know, food in my feeding tube,you know, liquid diet.
Um, as I'm in my coma andthey're not supposed to touch
me.
One day this nurse walks by and,uh, she rolls me on onto my
side.
She still does not, she, shedoesn't know why she did it,
'cause she wasn't supposed to.
But she rolls me on my side thisthree months later and slaps me
(24:17):
on the back.
All the fluid comes outta mylungs.
Every last bit of flu.
This when I turned this, thiswhen I took a turn for the
better.
And the doctors were hopeful.
Hopeful again.
Yeah.
Um, but the, the, the reallystrange thing is this, this
nurse's name is Angel.
Wow.
Absolutely.
Um, but yeah, so, um, thedoctors, uh, when I come outta
(24:38):
my coma finally, and I'm acoherent, I give my mother a
bunch of names and numbers offthe top of my head that are,
that were correct.
Telling her to go tell, callthese friends, you my friends,
go tell them that I'm okay.
All these numbers come back, becorrect.
So the neurologist, Dr.
Novak up there comes into myroom and he's like, Mr.
Anderson, you know, we're gladthat, uh, we, you're gonna,
(24:59):
you're gonna make it, you'regonna be better than we thought.
Wow.
Um, so, um, you know, as far asmy brain goes, they were totally
wrong as, but they, he's,they're still not thinking I'm
ever gonna walk again.
So you, you must have had like aserious head trauma supposedly.
Your hip was broken?
Yes.
Probably all kinds of things, Iguess.
Yes, yes.
I, I had, I had shattered both,both pelvises.
(25:20):
There's just no way.
Wow.
So, and how long were you in, ina coma or out?
Three months.
Three months.
Three months.
Wow.
And so it was after the threemonths when you woke up with the
biker nurse and putting thetubes, it was that, well, that,
that was originally, that wasthe, that was at the moment in
the er.
Okay.
That was, that was the, my firststep.
Oh, okay.
And then from there you were outfor three months.
(25:41):
That's it.
That's it.
So then, uh, so I was inrehabilitation for just a short
period of time before the,before they sent me home, um,
not expecting me to walk again.
You know, I'd go home in awheelchair.
I'm in a wheelchair for a longtime.
And, um, now at this point, whendid you find out about your
friend or what had happened toyou immediately?
That was, that was the firstquestion I asked, um, when you
woke up.
When I woke.
Absolutely.
(26:01):
How's Ken?
Um, and my mother had told methat he passed, you know, um, so
yeah, that was, that was prettyhard to take, but I, I kind of
had already known it.
Like I said, when we crashed,he, he had the blood coming out
his nose and his mouth.
I, I already kind of knew it andobviously I had this experience
wherever it was that he gave hislife for my life as far as I'm
(26:22):
concerned.
'cause he made a choice.
So, um, yeah, I, I had alreadyknown it, it had already settled
at the end.
Um, it's still, it still weighson me.
I, I got a syndrome call doessurvivor's remorse, um, is what
they call it.
So it's definitely hard to dealwith.
Yeah.
But, um, it is what it is.
So, yeah, still I'm not supposedto walk at this point.
(26:42):
Wow.
And Dr.
Jorge Alonzo comes along to UABand he looks at my x-ray x-rays
and he says, you know, I think Icould do something with this.
And that is the end of part oneof Matthew's story.
What an amazing miracle of Godto save his life in the midst of
all that happened from thattragic truck accident And what a
(27:05):
continued miracle that Godbrought him out of that coma and
God just restored his mind.
Greater than the doctors couldhave ever imagined.
You'll hear more of the miraclesof God as Matt's story continues
next week, and you'll also hearmore tragedy though as he begins
to deal with.
(27:26):
The aftermath of trying to livein a wheelchair and going back
to live with his parents, andjust a darkness that envelops
him, which leads to many, manyyears of meth addiction.
So come back next week.
We look forward to being withyou again, and God bless you
today.
We look forward to being with you again next week
(27:48):
as we share another testimonyabout the power and the goodness
of God to change lives throughSafe House Ministries.
if you are someone listening tothis podcast that loves to hear
these stories of the greatthings that God is doing in
changing people's lives for thebetter, and if you would like to
be a part of that work, pleasereach out to us You can reach us
(28:08):
at 2101 Hamilton Road, Columbus,Georgia, 31,904.
You can call us at seven oh sixthree two two.
3 7, 7 3, or you can email us atinfo@safehouse-ministries.com.
Microphone (Samson Q2U Mi (28:24):
Thank you so much for being with us
this week for the renew restoreand rejoice podcast of safe
house ministries, we pray thatGod will bless you this week.
And we look forward to havingyou back with us again next week
for a new episode.
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