Thankful for a Bonus Round of Life

In this season when we pause to give thanks to God for all of his many, many blessings, our podcast guest, Dr. Michael McKay, Assistant Professor of Biblical Theology, understands full well that the Lord is his sustainer, provider, and a worker of miracles. 

During a laidback and relaxed Saturday morning in June, Michael knew he wasn’t feeling exactly right but wrote it off to morning aches and pains. However, when his left leg went numb, he and wife, Lee-Ann, administrative assistant for the Department of History and Government, knew something big was going on.  

Suspecting a stroke, they sped off to Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia, Ohio. But a CT chest scan showed something far more worrisome – a dissected aorta. An ambulance rushed him to Kettering Medical Center in Kettering, Ohio, for emergency surgery.  

Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Peter Pavlina and his team operated on Michael for more than 10 hours, supported by a constant stream of prayers from friends, family, and church family all over the world. Against the odds, Michael survived. He returned to teach classes this fall.  

“By all the statistics, I should be dead,” he shared with Cedarville public relations. “Every medical professional in my family or who is a friend of mine . . . told me they did not think they would have seen me again until the presence of the Lord. I’m in the bonus round.” 

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Back in February 2020, Michael shared on the Cedarville Stories podcast about traveling to Russia to train church leaders and visiting the Holy Land with Cedarville students, including his children, Alexis, Andrew, and Katherynn.