Psalm of Rescue: Dan Cathy's Brush Fire Accident

By Dan T. Cathy

“Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil; for you with me…”
Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)

Dan T. Cathy
President and Chief Operating Officer

Chick-fil-A, Inc.
5200 Buffington Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30349-2998
Telephone 404 765-8008
Fax 404 765-8012
E-mail dan.cathy@chick-fil-a.com

November 2005

Dear family and friends,

As many of you know, on Monday afternoon April 29,
2002, I was involved in a brush fire accident that
required a ten day stay at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial
Hospital. My family and I were overwhelmed with
expressions of concern, love and prayers. I thank every
one of you for the role you may have played in making
this one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.
How can something so physically traumatic be so
nurturing to the soul?

Please take a few minutes to read this story that
attempts to capture the experience from the patient’s
view. I have also included several pictures and an
interview from my wife Rhonda and my son Ross,
who ministered to me in my hour of need.

While I would have never brought myself to schedule
this experience on my calendar, I would not have traded
it for the world. Perhaps the Lord can minister to you
as you read the account of the consequences of my
poor judgment.

Blessings to you,

2 | Cathy

one
Pain

ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, APRIL 29, 2002, I LEFT THE OFFICE TO MEET MY SON
Ross at some property that we were working on near Woolsey, Georgia.
I had been underway on this project for about six weeks, using a front-
end loader and a Bobcat to push up brush, trees, old fence lines and
other debris into piles six or seven feet high to burn. Although I could
have hired out this work, working outside and getting hot, dirty and
sweaty is a wonderful escape from the “corporate” role that occupies
most of my time. I was burning the piles because burying the debris
makes sinkholes in a pasture when the material decomposes. For three
weeks, we had been burning brush piles, knowing that a ban on burning
in metro Atlanta would begin May 1, just two days later.

It was about 7:30 p.m. and we had only four piles left to burn. While I
was enroute to the property, I asked my son Ross to pour some diesel fuel
on the piles, but he called back on his cell phone to say that we had run out
of diesel. So I told him to put some gasoline on the piles.

“You want to use the gas?” he responded.

“Yes,” I said, “but don’t light it. We’ll let the gas soak into the wood and
then light it when I get there.”

When I arrived, I pulled out some matches and lit the first two or three
piles. They slowly caught fire because the gas had soaked in for 30 minutes
and most of the fumes had evaporated.

When we reached the fourth pile, I put my hands together to give Ross
a boost as he climbed to the top to pour on the five gallons of gasoline.
When he finished pouring the gas on top, he immediately jumped down.
I lit the match. I was about an arm’s length from the pile. As I lit the
match, the whole thing went “whvooom.” In a split second, I saw the
flames erupt and felt this incredible wall of heat push me backward.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ross running in retreat. I knew instantly
that something traumatic had taken place — I could feel a strange sensation

The Burning Brush Experience | 3

on my face and arms. I immediately turned and dove into the lush green fescue
grass, pushing my body forward with my feet and trying to rub off any
flames that might have ignited my clothes. I shouted, “Ross, am I on fire?”
By that time, he was right beside me, and he said, “No, Dad. You just stay
still. Just stay still. You’re okay. I’ve got to go get help.”

Having left our cell phones in our vehicles, Ross jumped on the little
John Deere Gator to drive back to the pickup truck near the road. About
halfway there, he figured he could run faster than the Gator was going, so
he jumped off and ran to the truck.
In the meantime, I was just When I occasionally opened my
spread eagle in the grass, and I eyes and looked around, I saw a
could hear the fire behind me crowd had gathered around me
burning. All the time, I was realizing — neighbors, people who had
more and more that something seen the emergency vehicles,
really traumatic had happened.
and rescue workers.
This is not your burned finger kind
of thing. I just lay there with my face in the grass. I couldn’t even close my
mouth because of the dirt and tightness around my lips. The sensations in
my arms and face were quickly turning to searing pain. At one point, I
looked over at my left hand, and I could see rolled up, melted skin hanging
underneath my wrist.

Ross came back with the pickup truck and helped me in. He had
already called 911 and told me that help was on the way. He drove out to
the intersection of Peeples Road and Highway 92 where paramedics from
the fire department met us. They got me out of the truck and on my back.
Then they told me that when the ambulance arrived, they would take me
to Fayette Community Hospital or Southern Regional Hospital, or they
could call a helicopter and Life Flight me to Grady Memorial Hospital.
I knew Grady had a good reputation for its burn unit, and I knew that a
helicopter would be a lot faster than the ambulance. So, they radioed for
the helicopter and, fortunately, it was only four minutes away. When I
occasionally opened my eyes and looked around, I saw a crowd had gathered
around me — neighbors, people who had seen the emergency vehicles,
and rescue workers. I don’t know how many people were there, but I do
remember seeing the Fayette County fire chief. I appreciate so much how
he and his department quickly and compassionately cared for me.

4 | Cathy

As I lay there, the emergency crew asked my name and age; I think they
were just trying to get me to talk and to keep me conscious. At the same
time, they were checking my vital signs — blood pressure, heart rate and
temperature. They were concerned that I might have inhaled flames or
extreme heat and damaged my lungs. I was very fortunate; I did not have any
internal damage, not even the inside of my mouth, although the outside
of my nose and lips were badly scorched.

A few minutes later the helicopter landed in a neighbor’s yard about
fifty yards away. They placed me on a stretcher and carried me over, and as
they did they said, “Now, Mr. Cathy, you’re going to hear a helicopter, and
it’s going to be kind of noisy.” But I didn’t mind that at all. A little noise
was the last thing I was worried about!

It was an exciting feeling at Although I only felt light-headed for a
that point to be rescued in brief moment, the helicopter took off, and
they continued the conversation to keep
such a dramatic manner.
me conscious. After starting an intravenous
(IV), they began to administer morphine to suppress the pain. I remembered
from treatments I received two years ago following a motorcycle accident
that morphine acts very quickly. One of God’s most wonderful blessings to
injured victims is morphine. I don’t know exactly all that it does physically,
but it is a God-sent blessing when you are hurting.

There were only three of us on the helicopter: the pilot; Marcus, the
medical attendant; and me. I was trying to joke with Marcus and the pilot by
asking if I could get frequent flier points for this trip and doing everything
I could just to keep the conversation going.

My feet were toward the front of the helicopter and my head toward the back.
I said, “I don’t want to miss this whole flight. Could you prop me up a little?”

“Sure,” Marcus said, and he used some sheets or a blanket to prop up my
head as we flew around the busy Hartsfield International Airport toward the
downtown skyscrapers at sunset. Frankly, it was an exciting feeling at that
point to be rescued in such a dramatic manner. We landed on top of
Grady Hospital, and they quickly took me down to the emergency room.
All of my personal information and vital signs had been transmitted from
the helicopter, so they didn’t have to re-document anything. The whole
process was very efficient.


They had already removed my blue jeans and boots. Regrettably, they had
to cut off my coveted 2001 Peachtree Road Race T-shirt. I sat on the table in the
emergency room as the doctors examined me from head to toe, checking
my back and legs to make sure there were no other injuries. In view of the
fact that my hair was singed on the sides, I remember joking during the
initial examination that I used to have a full head of hair! Morphine and
intravenous (IV) fluids were being generously applied, blocking most of the
pain. There’s no telling how many IV bags of fluid I went through. The big
concern with burns is to avoid infection, so they caked my arms and face
in Silverdine, an antiseptic cream, and lightly wrapped my arms. My face,
with first and light second-degree burns, was left unwrapped. I had arrived
in a hospital room around 9:30 p.m., just two hours after the accident. It
was all very fast and very efficient. By that time, I had not seen any of my
family or friends. Ross, I learned later, was calling the rest of the family, and
they were calling others. Word of my accident traveled fast.

Soon after I was wheeled into the hospital room, my wife Rhonda and
her sister Pam, a registered nurse, arrived. Shortly thereafter, other friends
and family slipped past the nurses’ station for a visit. I don’t remember
who came into the room that night, but
I know it was a steady stream of folks. I
later found out there were two or three
times more people who came to the
hospital and were asked to stay in the
waiting room. A reporter from The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution overheard
the emergency radio transmission and
called the Chick-fil-A Public Relations
Department for information on what
had happened. Of course, when you
hear someone is “being Life-Flighted
to Grady Hospital,” that sounds pretty traumatic. I didn’t realize at that
time how frightening this was for my family and so many of my dear
friends.

I didn’t sleep that first night. Nurses continued giving me morphine,
checking my blood pressure and temperature throughout the night and all
of Tuesday.

6 | Cathy

On Wednesday, though, the treatments of daily skin removal began. An
occupational therapist took me into what is known as a hydrotherapy room,
although I’m sure those who have participated in that experience can think
of more creative names for that room. The primary treatment for burn victims
is to remove the burned skin so that bacteria does not build up underneath
and cause infections. The therapist began by taking off all the bandages
and cleaning the burns — rubbing them with a sponge, then taking scissors
and scraping any dead skin that my body was sloughing off. On my face,
there were all first-degree burns, and those on my arms were first and second-
degree burns, with some deep second-degree burns. Fortunately for me, I
had no third-degree burns, which typically require skin grafts and take
much longer to heal. The therapist
picked and peeled on both hands
and arms. Exposed raw nerves were
extremely sensitive. Every day there
were more layers of skin sloughing
off, which the therapist had to scrape
away. I was given morphine during
that procedure, which typically lasted
for about an hour.

Thursday we went through the
whole thing again. I had to put my arms in big pans of salt water that I
found soothing. On this day, the pain from the rubbing and scraping was
five times worse than it had been the day before.
Despite the morphine, the process was excruci-
ating. Rhonda was there with me, rubbing my
shoulders to help me deal with the pain, but she
had to leave the room several times because my
arms became so bloody. My entire body would
just start shaking. My occupational therapist,
Lori Goldstein, said after Thursday’s session,
“We’ve got to do this differently tomorrow.”

During Friday and Saturday’s hydrotherapy
session, I was placed on a steel table covered in
plastic. In addition to giving me morphine, they
also gave me Versed, which causes temporary


amnesia. I had to remain partially
conscious so I could move around when
asked. I have no memory of the treatment
on Friday or Saturday. Rhonda said later
that my body felt the pain because Lori
would have to stop and let me rest for a
while when my body started shaking. I
remember walking into the room for
therapy, and I remember going back to
my room afterward. That’s it. Again, that’s
another marvelous drug that is used in this treatment.

On Sunday, they typically don’t do extensive work in the burn unit; they
just change the bandages and that was the
first day that I was able to shower and
shave. After that, each day was better, but
I still needed morphine for the pain. They
were giving me anywhere from 10 to 40
milligrams a day. They sometimes give burn
victims as much as 80 or 100 milliliters or
more, so my injuries were not nearly as
extensive as what some people experience.

Dr. Ferrell, who was assigned to my
case, as well as several other internists, was
pleased with the progress that I was making.
My face was clearing up remarkably fast.
When I went into Grady, it was swollen
and burned looking, but every visitor that I had from Saturday on was
amazed at how quickly it was clearing up. By the end of the second week,
I still had chapped lips, a chapped nose, and light red streaks down the
side of my face. My arms were still wrapped from above my elbows to my
fingertips to protect them as they healed. I was ready to go home.

8 | Cathy

two
Gratitude

LYING IN A HOSPITAL BED IS A WONDERFUL TIME FOR REFLECTION. I’M THANKFUL
for the incredible resources that we have in our public servants who come
to our aid when we are in need of being rescued. If there’s anything
I’ve learned from September 11 — and I think most people would agree
— it’s that we woefully underappreciate our civil servants. Out of a
total humanitarian motive, these heroes are out there risking their lives
to save others every day. I’m talking about everybody from politicians
to firefighters, rescue workers to police, and all the other people who
keep our society operating.

I was the beneficiary of heroic efforts by the fire department in little
Woolsey, Georgia, the medic on the helicopter and the Life Flight trans-
portation. I’m grateful to the
admissions personnel at Grady
Hospital, the emergency technicians
who examined me, and all the other
hospital personnel and medical
attendants. I’m thankful for the
nurses and the care they provided.
The hospital dieticians stayed right
on top of what I was eating to make
sure I was taking in enough calories and protein. They said the healing
process for burns of my extent is the equivalent of running 10 miles a day as
my body repairs and replaces cells that have been damaged. But despite the
thousands of calories I consumed while there, I still lost 10 pounds.

Grady Hospital is a terrific place — not just the doctors, nurses and
therapists — but even the housekeeping people who work so hard to keep
everything clean and neat. I could not have been in better care. The people
were warm, congenial, considerate, respectful and compassionate. They
were just outstanding.


I am a native of Atlanta, born on Peachtree Street at Crawford Long
Hospital, and I have lived here all my life. I don’t know that I’ve been to
Grady Hospital more than two or three times to visit friends who were there
as patients. Over the years, whenever I was riding through the downtown
connector, I got into the habit of looking over at Grady and thanking God
that I was out there on the expressway and not a patient lying in one of
those hospital rooms. I thanked God for my good health and prayed for
those that were there. I know my prayer now is going to be, “Thank You,
God that I was at Grady. Thank You for my ‘Burning Brush Experience.’”

three
Community

IT WAS A RICH EXPERIENCE BEING AT GRADY, REALIZING THAT WHILE IT HAS A GREAT
reputation for its trauma center, it is also one of the major indigent-care
facilities in the city of Atlanta, state of Georgia and the Southeast
region. As each day progressed, I regained more mobility and was able
to walk around with the help of my wife Rhonda. I stepped outside
my hospital room and began to walk down the halls. Making a little
loop down the hall from my room was a sure sign of recovery. Eventually,
I was able to go downstairs to the lobby and back up again. As I explored
more of the hospital, I began to realize the kind of community that

10 | Cathy

exists at Grady and the scope of people who are treated there — the
scope of injury and the scope of social conditions in which people are
living. Just being with the regular folks, and not in some swanky five-
star hospital, I had a sense that I was right where Jesus would have
been.

From my hospital room, I could hear helicopters overhead — other
patients being Life-Flighted just three floors above me. Just below me,
people were arriving in ambulances. They would typically turn off their sirens
about a block away from the hospital so
I knew that in the future,
they didn’t disturb all the patients.
whenever I passed by
I tried to get a good fix on exactly where
Grady Memorial Hospital,
my room was located on the north side of the
I would want to remember
hospital. I knew that in the future, whenever
my experience. I passed by Grady Memorial Hospital, I
would want to remember my experience. Monday evening, I ventured
down to the emergency entrance to see the ambulances bringing in broken
bodies. As I walked around in a hospital gown with an IV tube in tow, a
security guard came over and asked me, “Are you a patient in the hospital?”

I said, “I am,” and she said, “Well, you really need to stay closer or,
better yet, inside the hospital. You shouldn’t be out in this area at night.”
Evidently, it’s a rather dangerous area around Grady, and she did not want
me to venture out too far.

As I was walking back inside, I met a lady who was on the Grady
Hospital staff. I asked, “What’s your job?”

“I’m a social worker,” she said.

She introduced herself as Mrs. White. I asked what she did specifically,
and she said, “When an ambulance arrives, my job is to help identify the
victim if they don’t already know who the person is. Many times these people
don’t have any identification on them. I have to go back and find out where
the ambulance picked up the individual, call the sheriff’s department and
see what was reported. Then we can try to contact relatives or friends. We try
to meet the immediate needs of the family.” You can imagine the scope of
cases she must deal with — from tragic deaths to amputations, paralysis
and other life-threatening injuries.


Then as she observed my burns, Mrs. White said, “Oh, I know what
burns are all about.” I said, “Well, tell me about it.”

She told me: “About 15 years ago, my husband was a heavy equipment
operator in Augusta, Georgia, and he was involved in some type of incident
where there was an explosion. He had burns over 80 percent of his body. They
had him in the hospital there in Augusta, and because I worked at Grady, I
was able to make arrangements to have him transferred to Grady, where he
stayed for eight months. He not only survived but is now back at work again!”

I was really encouraged to learn that people with much more extensive
burns than mine usually make a full recovery. I was amazed to learn so
much about burns and burn treatment. For example, while there have not
been a lot of improvements in burn treatment, there have been many
advances in pain management. Doctors have found that relieving the body
of the pain sensation aids in the healing process.

four
Reflection

Ross was terror-stricken when the brush ignited. He was horrified at
seeing what was happening to his father. While I remained conscious
of what was going on throughout this whole thing, I never felt fearful.
At the same time, I never felt particularly courageous either. Through-
out the entire experience, I felt I was being totally cared for. There was
not one thing for me to worry about. It never crossed my mind to be
concerned with long-lasting injuries, although they could have been
substantial.

From the outset, I felt God’s presence with me the whole way. But it’s
hard to separate the physical, emotional and spiritual experiences. Maybe
this will help explain my feelings: Somebody said to me in the hospital,
“Dan, this is just a little detour in life.”

Well, that’s not true. This isn’t a detour in my life. This is part of the
agenda that God has for me as He deals in my life. This was not a tragic

12 | Cathy

experience in my life. Just the opposite; this is a marvelous experience for
me. I don’t mean to belittle the suffering of someone who may go through
a similar, if not worse, experience than mine. There were so many wonderful
dimensions for me that I cannot consider this a detour and certainly not a
tragedy.

From Rhonda’s perspective, she would not describe it as a marvelous
experience. Neither Ross nor Andrew, my two sons, would describe it that
way. I’m the only one who would describe this as a marvelous experience.

For example, there were the incredible expressions of love and support
from far and wide. Within 24 hours, Kay Shoaf, my assistant, was responding
to e-mails and so were other corporate
staff who immediately jumped in to
help manage the communications.
They kept friends, extended family, the
media, Operators, corporate suppliers
and other associates up to date with
news. E-mail and voicemail allowed us
to communicate accurately and imme-
diately as events unfolded — even the
very night of the accident. Rhonda
even left a daily update on our answering machine at home. By the third
day, I was able to send a personal voicemail message to all the Operators
and corporate staff to communicate my progress. I thought that they wanted
to hear from me and needed to hear my voice. It was important that they
knew how I really felt emotionally, as well as how I was doing from a
medical standpoint.

My upbeat attitude about the experience was not a “positive mental
attitude.” There was never the thought to psyche myself up to feel good
about a bad situation. Not the first thought of worry came to my mind.
I honestly never felt it was a bad situation. From the beginning, I had
total confidence in the doctors and total confidence in the care I was being
given. Most of all, I knew God’s presence was there and that I had nothing
about which to worry or to be concerned. Our Heavenly Father is never
caught by surprise even in our foolish mistakes.


five
Enlarging My Territory

ONE OF THE BIG TAKE-AWAYS FROM THIS EXPERIENCE FOR ME IS THAT MY TERRITORY
has been expanded. We talk about the Prayer of Jabez in which Jabez asks
the Lord to expand or enlarge his territory. I now have a connection
with people who have experienced burns and who have a more
extended stay than just an overnight quick check-up at an emergency
room. Until now, I had never spent the night in a hospital as a patient.
I’ve never had what I would call an extended stay in a hospital, but I
can understand that experience now.

Another big take-away is the overwhelming, compassionate response of
people through letters, messages and prayers. Of course, my family was
there with me on Monday night when the event happened — Mom and
Dad, Rhonda and our boys. Dad came back several times throughout my
stay. He is, as people who know him will tell you, very compassionate and
has a very tender heart. I knew he was hurting more than he would say
each time he came by the hospital for a visit. We would visit for a little
while and, before he left, he would tear up as he said goodbye.

Even though the family and the doctors requested that other visitors
not come to the hospital, a number of them did, and I was honored to see
every one of them. Just to be able to have a conversation helped me take
my mind off other things and just enjoy their presence. To feel their love
for me was wonderful.
I had total peace,
A third big take away is knowing that you God’s peace, even out
don’t have to go through an experience like this
in that field with the
in a state of fear. I experienced comfort through-
fire burning behind me.
out the whole process. I had total peace, God’s
peace, even out in that field with the fire burning behind me. I knew even
then that there’s never a place I’m going to go that God is not already
there. Psalm 139 talks about going in the deepest part of the sea or the
highest mountain tops and never escaping God’s presence. Where can I flee
His presence? Nowhere. You can never go anywhere that God’s presence
isn’t already there. Even when we do something stupid like I did!

14 | Cathy

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I never would have put this on
my schedule. I never would have put this in my Daytimer. God loves us so
much that He, as our spiritual academic dean, knows just what our wayward
heart needs. My prayer has been, “Lord, help me to be a good student. I
don’t want to fail this class and have to relearn the valuable lessons you
want me to learn.”

This is not to say that God had anything to do with the foolish thing
I did. I lit that pile of brush with fresh gasoline when the fumes were all
around me. It could have been not only permanently tragic for me, but
also for my son, Ross. But, God used this experience to take me into waters
just deep enough to receive a rich blessing from the experience, but not so
deep that I was of no use to others.

six
The Least of These

THOSE WHO KNOW ME WILL NOT BE SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT THIS WAS NOT A
“come-back-to-Jesus” experience at all for me. I’ve been disciplined and
very regular in my prayer life, in my personal Bible study life, and I
have seen God working in my life on many occasions.

While I was at Grady, someone sent me a
I realized how much I series of CDs of the gospels (Matthew, Mark,
needed to go back and Luke and John) narrated by a talented actor
refresh myself with the with backup music behind him. Since I couldn’t
stories of Jesus and the flip pages and didn’t feel like reading, I loved
listening to those gospel CDs. I realized how
things that He did.
much I needed to go back and refresh myself
with the stories of Jesus and the things that He did. Since this experience,
it seems like the Scripture leaps off the paper with fresh meaning.

Sometimes when visitors came to my hospital room, I would say, “I’ve
got to play something for you.” Then I would hit the play button on the
CD, and they would just have to sit there and listen. It might take 10 or 15


minutes, but they would listen with me to a
chapter from the Bible. We would take that
moment to hear what God had to say. It didn’t
necessarily have any direct application to
the situation I was in, but it was just the
experience of listening to hear who Jesus is,
what He did and how He had compassion
for people. I think it’s dynamic to relive
how Jesus ministered to people, and then
to venture down to the lobby of Grady, the
largest indigent care hospital in the southern
United States, and to walk around and visit
with the people that He spent most of His time with: the down-and-outs,
the outcasts, the people who many others didn’t have time for, people who
were shrugged aside or pushed off to the side. The juxtaposition of those
experiences made me want to go back to Grady Hospital for future visits
— but not necessarily as a patient!

God had prepared me for that aspect of my experience through our
involvement with a homeless ministry right across the downtown connector
from Grady Hospital. It’s called Blood-N-Fire, and it’s been a great experience
to have friendships with people who are jobless, who have broken lives
and who are alcoholics. A friend of mine who is a dentist, Abner Moore,
took Rhonda and me to visit Blood-N-Fire a few years ago. I was taken
aback by the whole experience. Until then, the ministries with which I had
been involved were limited to teaching a Sunday School class, serving on a
deacon board, and playing my trumpet during worship services. Direct
ministry to people who are really destitute and broken was “not in my
portfolio,” if you will forgive my use of a business term in this instance.
Blood-N-Fire had allowed me to get out there with people who, hereto-
fore, were not part of my normal circle of contacts. Within the last six to
eight months we’ve been able to employ people from Blood-N-Fire to help
us at different projects at the Chick-fil-A home office and at Berry College
where they are helping us with construction of our marriage conference
center. The opportunity I had to meet people at Grady further enlarged my
territory.

16 | Cathy

seven
Prayer

WE HAD A LOT OF PRAYER TIME AT GRADY. EVERY VISITOR WHO CAME IN WANTED
to have prayer, and I was all for it. We would hold hands or maybe
we’d just kneel around the bed. Of course, my church family at New
Hope was so supportive. The New Hope church family from both the
south campus and the north campus and all the ministry staff supported
me tremendously with their prayers and encouragement.

The Christian community really rallied in this situation with prayer
chains and prayer letters signed by dozens of people. The prayer networks
were fully mobilized. I had some very well-known people, who I’m surprised
even remembered that I ever shook
That quickly put a lot of their hand, remember me in prayer.
things in perspective; I had That was a wonderful part of the entire
nothing more than a splinter experience.
in my finger compared to At the same time, we prayed for the
what some of the other other patients who were in the hospital
patients were confronting. with us. As I was able to move out
from my room, we were able to learn
the stories of some of the other people who were in neighboring rooms.
That quickly put a lot of things in perspective; I had nothing more than a
splinter in my finger compared to what some of the other patients were
confronting.

There was a young boy of 14 or 15 who had been out with some friends
and had kicked an exploding can of gasoline. He had injuries over his face
and the side of his body. And there was a lady right next door to me who
was 94 years old and had Alzheimer’s. Her daughter had lit some candles
for her, and somehow one of the candles had fallen over into her lap and
caught her clothes on fire. Every patient in the burn unit had a story, and
they all needed our prayers.

I made sure that whenever we were ready to have prayer time that if
anyone from the Grady staff was in the room or about to come in the
room, we asked them to join us in prayer. There was a wide range of faiths


represented among the medical staff. My occupational therapist was of the
Jewish faith. One of the male nurses at night, an African-American, said he
and his family were Jehovah’s Witnesses. I had wonderful opportunities to
talk to him about the Christian faith. I had prayer with my burn doctor.
He was in his early 60s and kept incredibly long hours. I prayed with him
several times asking God to give him strong health as he continued to
minister to the needs of the many burn patients who sought aid at Grady.

Several of my nurses were wonderful Christians. Whenever they came
in the room, we had a good time talking about God’s goodness and
mercy. We prayed that one of the nurses would not be fearful as her son
stayed away from home for the first time with school friends. Just as I
needed prayers, I became more sensitive to the prayer needs of others.

eight
Armchair Conversations

I NEVER SPENT ONE NIGHT ALONE DURING MY HOSPITAL STAY. OUR SON ANDREW
stayed with me five nights, my brother Bubba stayed some, and Woody
Faulk spent a couple of nights with me, as well. I really enjoyed their
company. In fact, one of the richest aspects of the whole experience
was being able to have extended conversations with people without
looking at my watch or wondering what’s next on my calendar. We just
sat around and talked. As time went by, I was able to sit in a chair and
visit. We assembled about
nine chairs from all the
other rooms that weren’t
being utilized. People came
in and sat and visited, and
it was like sitting on the
back porch in the old days
— just talking and chatting
on many subjects.

18 | Cathy

What a novel idea to break up our twenty-first century routine! I would
like to go back to the office now and just sit and visit with people, anyone
who might like to visit. I would like for them to drop by my office and
just talk on whatever subject they’d like to discuss. We wouldn’t even have
to talk about business topics. From my experience, there is ministry in just
being able to have conversation.

My life was enriched by having those good meaningful conversations
with people without having to worry about lists of bullet points and
sound bites. I guess the Lord knew what I needed. I hope that’s going to
add to my leadership skill set. I know God is working on me — teaching
me how to minister to people.

Realizing that we have other people at Chick-fil-A who are better strategic
thinkers and planners with great business insights, my role with the company
is to be a guardian of the corporate culture. Part of that corporate culture is
the ministry of family and caring for one another and being concerned about
the needs of the total person. So my ministry and effectiveness have been
enhanced by this experience.


Rhonda Cathy’s Experience
one
Mustard Seeds

IT WAS RIGHT AFTER DARK AS THE DOGS AND I WERE WALKING FROM THE WOODS
toward the house when I saw my sister Pam. She called, “Rhonda!”

Sometimes you can hear in a voice, in just a word, that there has been a
boo-boo, especially when your husband and sons all ride motorcycles and
all have been in wrecks. I said, “Uh-oh. Which one?”

“Ross called,” she said.

“Oh, gosh,” I said. “Where is he? Is he in the ditch?”

“No,” she said. “He called to say Dan’s been burned, and I don’t know
how bad it is.”

“Okay,” I said, “Let’s go up to the house, and I’ll change clothes. We need
to get the dogs in the kennel to get them settled down, so if we’re not
home for two or three days, they’re going to be all right.”

A year-and-a-half-ago, our pastor told a story during his sermon about
a baby who had been deathly ill in the hospital. Our pastor’s brother was
the baby’s doctor, and no matter what he did, the baby wasn’t getting any
better. There was no response to medicines that should have worked. The
doctor was puzzled, and he was praying over this baby when a voice told
him, “Take the IV out.”

He thought, “Now, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. That’s the
life support. We can’t take the IV out.”

But the voice was strong, and it said, “Take the IV out now.”

He did, and then he saw that it was infected. That had been the problem
all along.

And at the same moment, the child’s father and grandfather had gone
off to another room to pray and, as they did, they smelled the sweetest
smell they had ever smelled, both of them, a smell so sweet they couldn’t
breathe in enough of it.

20 | Cathy

They looked up and, at the door, a big man in scrubs was standing who
said, “I’ve come to tell you the baby is fine,” and he left.

They went running down the hall and the doctor told them the baby
was, indeed, going to be fine now. Then he asked, “How did you know he
was okay? We’ve just done it.”

Then they told him about the man in scrubs. But their description didn’t
match anybody working in the hospital. They knew then that it had been
an angel with the message.

A few months later I was in the barn behind
Lord, if these are our house and a sweet, sweet smell filled the
guardian angels and place, reminding me of that story. And I
one of us needs them, thought, “Uh-oh.” Then I prayed, “Lord, if these
just keep them close. are guardian angels and one of us needs them,
just keep them close.”

The next day Ross had a bad motorcycle wreck going out to repair a
fence and, in the ambulance going to the hospital, he was not talking
right. His speech was slurred badly.

“Ross,” I said, “I don’t know what’s ahead of us, but I know God is here
with us. Just rest in that; God is here. We’ve got guardian angels controlling
this right now. We don’t know how well you’re going to do, but God is
here right now.”
When you walk each day with Christ, your spiritual awareness grows.
We’re told that if we have the faith of a grain of mustard seed, we can
move mountains. Have you seen anybody move mountains? Well, that’s
the faith I want.

two
Prayer

FOR A WEEK BEFORE DAN’S ACCIDENT, I HAD BEEN AWARE OF SOMETHING. THE
only way I can describe it is a darkness in my periphery. I had rebuked


Satan, thinking this
was a satanic attack,
and I was asking for
guardian angels to be
around us in a special
way because I just
didn’t know what
was happening.
Then Pam stood in
the driveway and said,
“Rhonda,” and I knew.

Pam drove to Grady, and I could see that she was nervous. “Let’s just
keep calm,” I said. But she wasn’t. On the way to the hospital, I started
calling people on the cell phone telling them that Dan had been burned
and Life Flighted to Grady, and I asked them to pray.

From the beginning, I never got panicky. I knew God is going to take
care of us. In fact, the first time I became uneasy was when we had to go
through a metal detector, checking for guns and knives to get into the hos-
pital. I initially felt very uncomfortable walking through the emergency
area of Grady Hospital where so many gunshot victims and other trauma
victims were being treated.

We went on up to the burn unit, and it wasn’t very long before the doctor
came out and told us Dan was stable. He was going to be all right. That
was the main thing we wanted to hear. Within minutes, a crowd of people
surrounded us in the waiting room. Everyone I had called had called
someone else, and they all were concerned for Dan. The associate pastor
from our church led us in prayer, asking for Dan’s healing and in my heart
that prayer left me feeling uncomfortable. I felt like we needed God’s will,
and if God’s will meant that he was going to take Dan, I could accept that.
It’s all about God’s will, not our selfishness. If God’s will is for Dan to die,
then if He is our Abba Father, He is going to fulfill our needs — all of
them. And so, I sat there for a little while and I thought, “I just can’t leave
that prayer like that.”

People all around the room had been praying as well, so I said, “We
need to pray for God’s will to be done in this hour. What is to come is to

22 | Cathy

come, and we are not to fear it. And so we need to pray for God’s will to
be done and that we have the grace and strength to endure and accept
what is God’s will.” And nobody prayed after that.

So that was my prayer: That we would totally trust God and know He
would meet our needs. And whether it’s down a road where we don’t want
to go or whether Dan was to fully recover, my prayer was that we would
accept that in full trust. So it was just the filling of the Holy Spirit that
allowed me never to panic. The Spirit was there.

What are a few scars After we prayed, I wondered what the next step
when you know he’s would be. We knew that Dan had these injuries,
and the nurse was saying he was going to be fine.
going to live?
It didn’t matter to me, and I knew it didn’t matter
to him, in terms of how he looked or whether he would have scars. What
are a few scars when you know he’s going to live?

three
Pain

DAN BEGAN HYDROTHERAPY ON WEDNESDAY, AND IT HURT SO MUCH TO SEE HIM
in such pain. The first day wasn’t so bad, but the second day there was
a lot more pain, and that’s when it was awful. There was nothing I could
do but rub his shoulders and tell him to breathe deep and try to relax his
muscles. But every inch of him was as hard as the table — every muscle
was tense with pain. That took a lot out of him. Then he would come
back to the room, and people would be waiting in line to visit with him.

The nurses were afraid he was going to be overloaded, so one of them
put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. They said he needed to sleep
and rest to keep his blood pressure down. Yet people would just walk in.
One man came in and visited for 20 minutes. When he left I asked Dan,
“Who was that person?”

“I don’t know,” Dan said. “I’ve never talked to him before, but I know
his company does business with Chick-fil-A.”


Dan loved having the company — it was great to keep his mind off his
pain. When people came in, he got excited and animated. But the medical
staff was concerned that he was not getting enough rest because by Sunday
he really had not yet begun to heal. It wasn’t until Monday that they said
he had actually made improvement. All the while a heart doctor kept coming
in and listening to his heart. That’s probably the only time I was getting
anxious because healing from burns like that puts a lot of stress on the
heart, and Dan’s blood pressure kept shooting up.

But after spending all day Sunday trying to be a gatekeeper, and seeing how
much Dan enjoyed the visitors, I realized that it was not up to me to make
him pace himself. That was not my responsibility. It would have to be his.
So many people reached out to Dan, and yet their reaching out was tiring
to those around Dan, too. One morning as I dressed to go to the hospital
and be with him, I took more than 20 phone calls in two hours, and I still
wasn’t completely dressed. I told Ross, “I will not answer the phone again.”
It was impossible to do that and be with Dan to meet his needs, as well.
Then at night, I would come home and the message machine would be
full — 20 or 25 calls. We love people and were grateful for their outpouring
of support, but we couldn’t keep up with them.

four
Community

EARLY IN THE WEEK, IT WAS LATE IN THE EVENING BEFORE I LEFT THE HOSPITAL TO
drive home and get some sleep, and whoever was spending the night
with Dan would have to walk me to the car. Then I would drive him
through the parking lot and drop him off at the front door. It broke
my heart when I looked at the people around Grady, and I thought,
“Jesus would love every one of you. He
would not fear you.” Then I thought, “But We are so unprepared
you could kill me.” We are so unprepared to to deal with people who
deal with people who most need our help. most need our help.

24 | Cathy

We tried to reach out to the hospital staff. It seemed that the folks
cleaning up rooms were the least appreciated, and yet they always smiled
and always had a kind word. One of the “big wheels” from the hospital
came in one day, and we told him what a good job the staff was doing to
keep the room clean. A little later, one of the ladies said in a staff meeting
that the man had recognized them for their good work. She said that in
15 years they had never received public recognition like that, and they
appreciated it so much.

“Well, let me tell you,” I said, “you are as important to us as any doctor
in here. Because what good is a nasty hospital going to do a patient?”
Then I hugged her and the other two ladies with her.

One day, I heard them in the room next door talking about what a mess
it was, so when Dan checked out, I stripped the bed and started wiping
down the surfaces. One of the women from Dan’s office asked, “Rhonda,
what are you doing? Are those your own sheets?” I said, “No, but some-
body has to do this, and we’re the ones who
Getting to know them messed them up.”
reminded me not to
What could a hospital do without the cleaning
look through people. crew? And those people have to clean up some
gross stuff. I wouldn’t want the job, but they’re
willing to do it. Getting to know them reminded me not to look through
people.

I think we can botch up God’s will at any point in life with the foolish
decisions we make, but we should take each opportunity to use it as a
witness. We took the opportunity to love people at that hospital that
normally aren’t loved. We acknowledged them and did not look through
them. So I think at this point you say, “God, let me suffer the consequences
of Dan’s stupid decision.” This is what I’ve learned from this experience,
and I’ve had a chance to love people.


Ross Cathy’s Experience
Faith

AS I WAS GETTING DOWN OFF THE PILE, I SAW DAD FIDDLE IN HIS POCKETS FOR
matches, and I said to myself, “Tell me he’s not about to light that pile.”
We had started the first three piles with gas, but we had let the fumes
get away first. When I saw him looking for matches in his pocket, I
threw a pack to him. Then I took maybe three steps and I heard this
whvooom!

Then I heard the worst scream I had ever heard someone yell in my life.
And before I even turned around, I yelled, “Drop, Dad, drop!”

He was on the ground just shaking his arms and looking like he was
having a seizure, and I was telling him, “Stay down and smother it.”

When I was sure he was not burning, I had to call 911. I ran to the John
Deere Gator, but it wasn’t fast enough, so I got off and ran to get a tele-
phone. I called for an ambulance, but the property we were clearing didn’t
have an address, so I told them to meet us at Peeples Road and Highway
92, then I drove the pickup back to where Dad was. When I got there, he
wasn’t moving, and I smelled the worst smell I had ever smelled in my life
— burned flesh and hair. And all I could see was the back of his head; his
face was in the grass, and I knew it was going to be bad.

But when I got close to him, he was talking, so that was a good sign.
Then he said he wanted me to drive him to the hospital instead of waiting
for the ambulance, so I called and cancelled the ambulance. I helped him
get in the truck and started driving. He sat there with his eyes closed, the
skin melted off his forearms, and his face burned and covered with dirt. I
had to roll down the windows to keep from getting sick from the smell. I
hope I never smell that scent again.

All along the way I was trying to get in touch with Mom on the cell
phone. I finally got Aunt Pam, who is a nurse. She said it was important to
get some water on the burns, if I had any. So I poured water on his arms,
and he screamed because it hurt him so badly, and his face cringed, and I
could see that it was badly burned, too.

26 | Cathy

As we came down the dirt road, we passed a fire truck and stopped.
They took one glance at Dad and said, “We’ve got to get help. If his head’s
burned, his lungs may be burned.” So they called for Life Flight. I stopped
the truck near a grassy area, and they helped him out onto the ground to
wait for the helicopter.

I knew I didn’t have the patience at that point to drive through traffic to
the hospital, so I drove to the house and rode with someone else to Grady.

It took until about Thursday
for the reality of everything to set When you have an accident like
in. I don’t think I shed a tear that, you know what you have
until then — everything was to do, and you do it. If you’re
automatic. When you have an hysterical, you’re not helping
accident like that, you know
anybody get the job done.
what you have to do, and you
do it. If you’re hysterical, you’re
not helping anybody get the job done.

Later in the week, though, I had to get out of the hospital — to take a
break. And when I went to bed, all I could do was smell that burnt flesh
and hair. The smell wouldn’t come off my hands, and I told Mom, but she
couldn’t smell it. My hands smelled like soap to her. The smell was in my
nose — in my head — and it wouldn’t go away.

In the last year, I have had to give up my favorite thing on earth: riding
motocross. I have seen this happen to my dad. And I’ve carried my best
childhood friend’s casket to the grave.

But I don’t sit here and look at death as something to be scared of.
We’re all going to die someday; death is just kind of a time-out. If Dad
dies, I won’t see him for a little while, then I’ll get to hang out with him
again. If you have faith in God and Jesus as your Savior, why sit here and
be scared about dying? I mean, Earth’s the worst hell we’re ever going to
go through if you’re a Christian.

A Note from Dan Cathy

It is my hope that your faith in God’s
provision, presence and protection
will be strengthened as you read this
account. Our heavenly Father desperately desires to
have a personal, intimate relationship with each of us.
As John 3:16 states, “God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son.”
If you have not received this most precious gift, follow
this simple A-B-C plan:
A — Admit that you are a sinner and will never be able
to live the life of joy, peace and comfort He wants
for you (even when we go through the fires of life)
apart from a relationship with Him.
B — Believe that the Creator of the universe wants to
have a genuinely personal relationship with you.
We express that belief when we…
C — Confess our spirit of rebellion and commit our
life to Him.

Dan T. Cathy is the president and chief operating officer
of Chick-fil-A, Inc., a privately owned chain of fast food
restaurants specializing in “The Original Chicken Sandwich.”
The company’s corporate purpose is “To glorify God by being a
faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive
influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Copyright 2005 CFA Properties, Inc.

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