GOP Rep. Steve Scalise says he's alive because of God's miracle one year after Virginia shooting
Republican Rep. Steve Scalise believes that God performed miracles on him following that fateful summer day in June 2017, when a shooter open fired during baseball practice for an annual Congressional charity game. The GOP member took a bullet in his hip and underwent a series of surgeries but he says that he's still alive because God took care of him.
One year later, Scalise remembers the experience. He recalls that he didn't know the extent of his gunshot wounds at that time but he managed to crawl away from the shooter and then started praying.
"I asked Him for very specific things and, you know, at that point, it almost was like this calm came over me because I just really felt like God was going to take care of me and boy did He ever," Scalise said, according to CBN News.
The gunman, the Congressmen's bodyguards and the police had a shootout that prevented a massacre and resulted in the death of the lone shooter, James Hodgkinson. Scalise, however, suffered severe blood loss and needed surgery.
Paramedics rushed the congressman to the George Washington University Hospital but doctors weren't sure if he would survive. The representative's condition remained critical and doctors had to perform succeeding operations to save him. Three days after the shooting, however, Scalise finally woke up.
The congressman incurred serious damage to his hip, pelvis and femur. He also suffered damaged nerves and muscles but doctors assured him that he would be able to walk again.
Today, Scalise navigates the halls of Congress using crutches or an electric scooter as his recovery continues. He recently underwent another round of surgery that will pave the way for more procedures. The GOP member, however, trusts that he'll fully recover in God's time.
"Please pray that my nerves that have been injured from the attack can come back and function, and a lot of them are and I'm so blessed to be able to do the things I do now," the congressman said.