Member finds silver lining through winter injury, By Brian Mowad, Hawthorne, N.J.

*Editor’s note: This information was published in the January 2023 issue of Heartfelt Magazine, CHM’s monthly magazine that provides CHM membership-related tips and tricks, medical advice from doctors, testimonies from CHM members, and more. Please refer to the CHM Guidelines and applicable web pages for the most up-to-date information regarding CHM membership, sharing eligibility, and ministry news.*

Last winter while skiing, a screw detached from my ski, causing the binding to fall off and leaving me with only one ski. I was going fast and fell hard.

Instantly, pain told me I was in trouble. My shoulder was dislocated, and I had two ligament tears—a PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) and MCL (medial collateral ligament)—in my left knee.

Even with the pain, I was instantly worried about costs. Additionally, I was supposed to leave for my next semester of college two weeks later. These injuries completely changed my plans.

However, CHM provided me with incredible peace of mind during that season. The ministry shared my eligible medical bills. Knowing CHM was there took the stress of money off my shoulders and allowed me to focus on recovering.

My recovery was so much better than I could’ve imagined. I’m blessed to have family and friends who helped me stay positive as I rested. Recovery helped grow me as a person; being at home gave me a lot of time to focus on academics and develop new hobbies.

I’m back to 100%, and I couldn’t be more grateful. It was a very long recovery, but now I can do all the things I did before with full confidence. A huge part of my life before the injury was being active, so being able to get back to that means much to me.

Every time I’m able to play sports—or just move around—I’m thankful for the ability to do so. I’ve learned nothing is guaranteed, so I should be thankful for every day I’m blessed with.