Brad and Ashley Stevens' story of faith: Brad took each step back to reality with Ashley
The story of Brad and Ashley Stevens was no easy journey, as Brad waited patiently for God to heal Ashley after she obtained major injuries in a car accident.
On December 12, 2008, Ashley joined other women in her Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) team as they headed for a retreat center near Gretna, Nebraska. A little while into Highway 6 near Platte River, a large truck smashed into their car.
Among other minor injuries similar to the rest of the women who were with her in the car, Ashley had major head trauma and significant swelling and bleeding in her brain.
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Brad, Ashley's fiancé for just a few weeks, rushed to the hospital with Father Robert Matya, chaplain for the UNL Newman Center, who was also on the way to the same retreat center.
Father Matya said he had known Brad for many years and chose to be with him as he listened to what the doctors had to say.
In an interview with the Catholic News Agency, Father Matya recalled how Brad tried to be strong and honest to all of the people who cared for Ashley. "I remember very distinctly arriving at the hospital, and Brad and I went in to sit down with the doctor, who told us that he didn't think it was going to be possible that Ashley would survive at that point," he said.
Ashley had to undergo surgery, and Father Matya was witness of how Brad remained firm in his faith, believing that God would turn the tables and give healing for his soon-to-be wife.
"There was never a question of his dedication to her throughout the whole experience, and that was the case not only on that day of the accident but throughout the entire process of her rehabilitation," he said.
When Ashley finally woke up from surgery, she did not remember anything, but Father Matya shared how Brad took each step back to reality with Ashley.
In December 12 of 2009, exactly a year after the accident, Brad and Ashley got married, proving to the world that God "healed [us], healed [me], and performed a miracle."
