Chainsaw Accident Leads to Testimony of Faith
A little yardwork doesn’t typically change someone’s life, but for Bobby Connor, a longtime soldier of the Charleston Citadel Corps in South Carolina, a near-fatal encounter with the business-end of a chainsaw did exactly that.
“It was the fifth of July in 2014, and I was cutting down a tree at my aunt’s house,” Bobby explains. But he confesses he was too careless, taking shortcuts that resulted in near tragedy.
“Normally I’d tie the branch I’m cutting, just for safety reasons, but that time I didn’t. Also, I was up on a ladder when I was cutting, and you shouldn’t do that, either!”
The chainsaw “kicked back” and Bobby instinctively dropped it. Unfortunately, the jolt threw Bobby off the ladder, and he fell to the ground landing atop the saw, which was still running.
“The saw cut into my face, and blood was everywhere. And to make matters worse, falling onto the saw broke both of my arms.”
Bobby’s wife immediately ran out to help, turning off the chainsaw and calling 911. Paramedics rushed Bobby to the emergency room, where he was informed he would be alright but that he might need plastic surgery.
“What probably saved my life was that I had just recently changed that blade. It was new and very sharp, and my surgeon said that if an older, duller blade were still on the saw, it would have torn my face up even more.”
The surgeon said, “Instead, it was a clean cut.”
Understandably, the incident deeply impacted Bobby, who was a good man to begin with, and a faithful soldier of the corps for many years.
“Something like that changes your perspective,” he admits. “For three months, while my face healed, I couldn’t do anything because both of my arms were in casts. My little grandson was feeding me ice cream because I couldn’t feed myself. Every once in a while, he would playfully pull the ice cream away and laugh. We both found it funny, but it also showed me that if you don’t have your hands, you have to depend on someone else for things we do every day and maybe take for granted.”
That alone can change you, he adds.
Bobby first came to a knowledge of Jesus while attending a junior soldier camp in the North & South Carolina Division. “I was about 14, and it was at the old Camp York (before the founding of Camp Walter Johnson). I remember that old chapel, where I went forward and gave my heart to God.”
As is often the case, during his later teen years Bobby grew apart from God and his corps.
But during his 20s, he says he “came back to God” because of the pastoral love of some of his corps officers.
“My youngest daughter was facing surgery to repair a hole in her heart, and [the then] Lieutenant [Andy] Wiley came to the hospital to sit with us. They came for her, and I asked the nurses to wait for five minutes. They did, and I remember looking out the window and I asked God that if He brought her through this, I would ‘do better’ as a Christian.”
That experience brought Bobby back to the corps, but a true recommitment came later that year when he accompanied 25 men from Charleston to the divisional men’s camp (now at Camp Walter Johnson).
“During that Sunday morning service, when the invitation was given, I felt strongly led to go forward,” he says, “but the devil was telling me that all these guys knew me, and would say to themselves, ‘Why is he going down to the altar?’”
An additional barrier for Bobby was “the way I had been living, I was thinking I had no right to talk to Him.”
“But that didn’t stop me. I figured that the devil could offer you things like a new car or money, but what God can offer us is much better. So, I got up and went down to the Mercy Seat.”
And so it was that Bobby became very active in his corps for many years. But then the chainsaw accident happened. His corps officer, Major Tom Richmond, ministered to Bobby and his family throughout the ordeal, leaving a profound impression on Bobby.
“God left me here for a reason,” Bobby learned from the accident. “I am completely committed to tell people my story and to talk about God and His faithfulness. We had a corps sergeant major back in the day, Harry Haley, who told me something that I’ve not forgotten: ‘If God has given you a testimony, you need to go out and tell it.’”
This advice was the final addition needed for Bobby’s maturity of faith and lifestyle of volunteerism.
“I’ve always done odd jobs for others,” Bobby says, “but I wanted to get paid for it. Now, I’ll do those odd jobs for nothing, or even before I’m asked. If I see someone who needs help with something, I just go ahead and do it.”
The only other thing Bobby’s more excited to do is to testify of God’s faithfulness. “God left me here for a reason; to tell people my story.”
And he has the scars to prove it!
