Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Freezer

We had a reception for returning missionairies at White Oak. I had a couple of people helping me with it. We started running out of ice for the punch, and they asked me to go to the walk-in freezer in the kitchen to get more. I flung open the door of the freezer and it closed behind me. There is a rod that you can push to open the door, but it didn't work. I was locked in the freezer. There is a small vent at the top of the freezer. I yelled through it, but it was frozen over. I was wearing short sleeves and dress pants. I pounded on the door with my fist, until I was bruised. I kicked the steel rod, until it bent. Nothing was working. I unplugged the fans at the bck of the freezer, thinking that would help, but it just made it colder. I was losing oxygen. I remembered my Boy Scout training of getting low, which was where the oxygen was and taking short breaths. I was dying. I sat on a box of tomatoes and prayed. I said, "Please God, don't let Mamie (our cook) find me frozen in here tomorrow. She will go crazy and run down I-77 screaming." I tried the door one last time before passing out, and it opened. I stumbled out into the kitchen. I had been in the freezer for 6 minutes. When I got back to the party, my co-workers asked me where I had been? I told them. They said they thought I had been in the bathroom. One said she had made a joke about me being locked in the freezer, and another said, "He wouldn't be that stupid!". Thankfully, one of my co-workers was an EMT, so she did some first-aid on me and treated me for hypothermia. I didn't have any frostbite, but I was pretty light-headed from the lack of oxygen. Prayer works, boys and girls. I am living proof. I found out later from a building contractor that freezer doors, when shut, create a vacuum, and sometimes can't be opened until 6 minutes later. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. God gave me the strength.

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