Six Minutes on the Side of the Road

The trip from their home in Zeeland normally takes about three hours. They were about an hour and a half into the drive, traveling between Big Rapids and Reed City, when something along the roadside caught Amy’s attention.

“I saw a truck on the side of the road and there seemed to be some commotion,” Amy recalled. “When I looked over, I saw a body lying on the ground next to the pickup truck with two other men around him.”

Within seconds, she was pulling over. She didn’t even think about it beyond voicing to her daughter that they needed to help. The decision felt almost instinctive.

“Honestly, I think it was God,” she said. “Normally I might drive by, but this time I just reacted.”

Amy pulled over and ran toward the scene. Two men were kneeling beside their friend. They had pulled him from the vehicle, laid him on the ground, and called 911. One of them was attempting CPR.

Amy quickly introduced herself.

“I’m a physician assistant and my daughter is a nurse. Can we help?”

She knelt beside the man and immediately saw how serious the situation was. His face was a deep purple and his lips were blue.

“I remember thinking he looked dead,” she recalled. “Right away I prayed, ‘God, help me.’”

Amy has been a physician assistant for more than 30 years. Like many medical professionals, she completes CPR training regularly. But her career has mostly been in outpatient care. Until that moment, she had never performed CPR on a real person.

“All those years it had just been practice on dummies,” she said.

Still, the training took over. She immediately began chest compressions.

She focused on maintaining a steady rhythm. In the back of her mind, the beat of the familiar song “Stayin’ Alive” played—something often used in CPR training. It helped keep her in rhythm as the adrenaline rushed through her body.

Nearby, Kaylee stood watching the scene unfold while staying close enough to offer support. The man’s two friends stood beside him, calling out his name again and again.

“Come on, Larry! Come on!”

Amy kept pumping.

Time seemed to stretch. In reality, she estimates she performed chest compressions for about three minutes before emergency responders arrived.

As she continued CPR, she noticed he began making irregular gasping breaths, known as agonal breathing. Amy kept going.

“Both of his eyes opened slightly and rolled upward,” Amy remembered. “I thought, something is happening.”

Soon after, what Amy believes was a volunteer firefighter, arrived. He began to cut away the man’s shirt and encouraged her to continue CPR. She didn’t even glance up to see the man’s face. Moments later, the ambulance pulled up, and paramedics took over the life-saving effort.

At first, there still seemed to be little response. But then Amy saw something she will never forget.

“You could suddenly see life come back into his eyes,” she said.

But he was still fighting, barely holding on. The man—later identified as Larry Pals—was alive, though in critical condition. Combined with the compressions his friend had started and Amy’s CPR, Larry likely received about six minutes of continuous care before paramedics arrived. He was then shocked four times with an AED.

As emergency crews worked, the roadside became crowded and chaotic. Amy quietly stepped back, holding onto the hope that he might pull through.

Before leaving, she offered a short prayer with Larry’s friends.

“They thanked me for stopping,” she said. “One of them said, ‘There are still good people in the world.’”

Then Amy and Kaylee continued their way to the retreat.

But the experience stayed with her all weekend. She prayed for Larry and his family, not knowing what the outcome had been. Did Larry survive? Ever since she saw life return to his eyes, she hoped he had. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to find Larry and share Jesus with him. As soon as she returned home, Amy began searching. She remembered Larry’s name and eventually tracked down the hospital where he had been transferred. She was able to get confirmation that he was at the hospital, but that was all the information they could give. She decided to make a visit.

When Amy arrived at the hospital’s cardiac unit, she ran into some of his family. She introduced herself and they excitedly shared the good news.

Larry was doing well. They led her down the hall to his room.

Amy was able to meet him and his wife.

“He was so happy to see me,” Amy said.

Larry told her he didn’t remember anything from the roadside rescue. But he will always remember meeting her.

Amy had brought a small gift— In the glove compartment of her car, Amy keeps new copies of the devotional book Steps to Christ to give away when opportunities arise. She wrote a short message inside one.

“To Larry Pals — God has a plan for your life. Blessings, Amy.”

Larry shared that he, too, was a believer in God and the two spoke together briefly about faith. They rejoiced together and prayed and Amy went on her way.

Doctors later confirmed that Larry had suffered a dangerous heart rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation—an electrical disturbance that prevents the heart from pumping blood effectively. Survival rates are extremely low without immediate treatment and can cause death within minutes. Early CPR can keep blood flowing to the brain until advanced care arrives. It is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death.

Larry eventually received a pacemaker-defibrillator and was able to return home quickly. Today, Amy says he is doing well and recovering normally.

For Amy, the experience left a deep impression.

“It really reminded me how fragile life is,” she said. “People are all around us every day and we don’t realize how quickly everything can change.”

She believes the timing of that moment was no coincidence.

“If I had arrived even a minute later, it could have been a completely different story,” she said. “God’s timing was perfect and purposeful.”

The experience also changed how she sees her work and the people she meets each day.

“I went back to work this week with a different outlook,” she said. “I’ve always prayed that God would let me make a difference in someone’s life,” she said. “And now I know God has answered that prayer.”

Just nine days after Larry’s emergency on the side of the road, he stood up front at his church, Eastmanville United Reformed Church, to share his testimony. With emotion in his voice, he opened with James 5:13: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”

He doesn’t remember the incident himself, so Larry described the events of that day through the eyes of others. He shared how friends happened to be driving by on the other side of the road, saw the commotion, and—without realizing it was him—prayed for the person experiencing the medical emergency. He also spoke about his visit with Amy at the hospital.

“Some people say I was very lucky, but we all know that’s not it. It was God.” Voice laced with emotion, Larry explained that the depth of what he felt wasn’t just because his life had been spared, or because everything aligned so perfectly in his care and treatment, or even because he was now in good health—though all those things mattered deeply.

“It’s because of a simple truth,” he said, “a profound truth I learned as a child: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. And Jesus loves you too. Receive the gift of His love today—and tell the world.”

Brianna Kittleson serves as the administrative assistant for the Communication and Public Campus Ministry Department of the Michigan Conference.