Like a drill bit to the head

A few years ago, building contractor Donald Wright, 54, of Toronto fell from a step ladder, skewering his brain with a 3-inch drill bit. After he regained consciousness, Wright calmly walked to the bathroom where he saw the drill buried to the hilt in his right lobe. He plugged the drill into the socket, said goodbye to his reflection and put the drill in reverse. Incredibly, he survived without any major health issues. His story has become psychology folklore.

Today I heard this story for the second time. It still amazes me to think how lucky this guy was. But was it luck? Lots of people die from brain injuries, yet lots of people survive. Crowbars, bullets, nails... When I think about the things people stick in their brains, I'm find myself in awe of God's creation. How resilient. How miraculous.

Dr. Mark Cosgrove, perhaps Taylor's most respected professor, knows plenty about the brain and its ability to bounce back. He's been studying the brain and its intricacies for as long as I've been alive. My freshman year, he suffered a brain aneurysm. Most people straight up die from those and the ones who survive have immediate surgery. Cosgrove had to wait two weeks before he found himself in an Indianapolis OR.

His eventual surgeon, one of the top neurosurgeons in the country, said Cosgrove should have died three times during those two weeks. Yet here he is, standing in the Student Union meeting room, teaching my Physiological Psychology class. What a blessing! What a testament to the power of prayer and to the wonder of God's creation!

I remember when Dr. Cosgrove got sick freshman year. The whole Taylor community lifted the beloved professor up in prayer. Meanwhile, Dr. Cosgrove said he barely thought beyond simple constructions, as John Eldredge puts it, "alert and oriented times zero."

I'm excited about this year and what I'm going to learn from my professors, my friends and mostly from God. It's definitely going to be a challenge, but it'll also be a blast. I'll be sticking a lot in my brain this year. Hopefully nothing sharp, though. :)