When Shanna was 15, she and two friends were in a terrible car accident where her best friend passed away and Shanna was in a coma for three and a half months with bleak prospects of ever recovering.
But through the faith, prayers, and blessings of her friends, family, and community, Shanna was able to overcome the odds, make a full recovery, and continues to live a happy and fulfilling life.
*** Please SHARE Shanna's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***
To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/uG8X-XgYXyc
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Also, if you have a faith-promoting or inspiring story, or know someone who does, please let us know by going to https://www.latterdaylights.com and reaching out to us.
When Shanna was 15, she and two friends were in a terrible car accident where her best friend passed away and Shanna was in a coma for three and a half months with bleak prospects of ever recovering.
But through the faith, prayers, and blessings of her friends, family, and community, Shanna was able to overcome the odds, make a full recovery, and continues to live a happy and fulfilling life.
*** Please SHARE Shanna's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***
To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/uG8X-XgYXyc
-----
Also, if you have a faith-promoting or inspiring story, or know someone who does, please let us know by going to https://www.latterdaylights.com and reaching out to us.
Hi everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.
Alisha Coakley:And I'm Alisha Coakley. Every member of the church has a story to share, one that can instill faith, invite growth and inspire others.
Scott Brandley:On today's episode we're going to hear how a horrific accident and years of recovery taught one woman that all things are possible through Christ. Welcome to Latter-day Lights. Hey everyone, welcome back to another edition of Latter-day Lights. We're so glad you're here with us today and we're really excited to introduce our special guest, shanna Arnold. Shanna, welcome to the show.
Alisha Coakley:Thank you, it's good to be here. Yeah, good to the show. Thank you, it's good to be here. Yeah, good to have you. I kind of cornered Shanna at church and I was like I need to hear your whole story because she was making these comments and they were wonderful comments during Sunday school and so we went out to a place called Brahms here in Texas it's, got some ice cream and had a little girl time and heard the story and I was like holy cow, Like you have to come be on our show. So I'm really, really excited that you're here and that you're going to share the amazing journey that you've been on. And thank you.
Scott Brandley:Yeah, thank you for being Alisha's friend.
Shanna Arnold:That's special, usually my friends pay me, you know, but with her I'm like it's free, Yay, that's fun. Yeah.
Scott Brandley:Cool. Well, Shanna, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Shanna Arnold:I'm 35 years old and I have two kids and a husband, so it's kind of like three kids. So it's kind of like three kids. I live in Lubbock, Texas, and I've been married for 16 years and I've been a member of the church my entire life.
Alisha Coakley:And you have a lot of family here, don't you?
Shanna Arnold:Oh tons.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, you guys kind of rule Lubbock. Someone somewhere is related to Shanna in this town, for sure. All right. Well, ms Shanna, why don't you go ahead and tell us where does your story begin?
Shanna Arnold:Back in 2003, I was with two of my friends. We were going to a football game. Our team was playing Odessa and we were coming home from the football game and there was three of us in the car Me, my best friend, and then Courtney, the driver. She's a year older than us so she could drive. Obviously it was the darkest night of 2003. You could not hardly see anything. The vision was very low. But then I was in the front seat with my seatbelt on. I had a feeling, a strong feeling, like the spirit was telling me to move to the back. I, you know, as you know, a teenager, so of course I ignored it a few times. But you know, the third or fourth time I heard it, I felt the prompting to move to the back seat and I did. And then fast forward a little bit of time. Courtney, my friend, was. We were in a car accident and it flew both me and my friend Janelle out of the vehicle. She was thrown 50 feet and I was thrown 150 feet. She. She died on impact. But they found me through helicopter and flew me to come to the hospital here in Lubbock and I spent three and a half months in a coma.
Shanna Arnold:I don't remember the accident, I just remember the stories I've heard. But I do remember having the um sitting in the front seat and having the spirit tell me to move to the back. I do remember that and that had to come back to me because at first I had no idea what had happened and I had no idea I was in high school, even. I was in high school, high school for six weeks, and then I had the accident, but it wiped out all of my memory and then basically, I had to relearn everything. I had to learn how to walk, how to talk, how to breathe again on my own. My first school in the hospital was to hold my head up for three seconds.
Alisha Coakley:And you were. What were you? 14 were 14, 15? How old?
Shanna Arnold:were you 15 years old 15, 15 years old.
Alisha Coakley:And your, your best friend, janelle, right she now. How long had you guys been best friends?
Shanna Arnold:um, for a few years I think. I mean because she moved to lubb and we went to the same school together and then we went to elementary and junior high and then high school went together, but obviously she didn't get to finish high school, yeah.
Alisha Coakley:And was she a member of the church too? At the time, she was a member of the church.
Shanna Arnold:She came to church with me a few times and I went to her church a few times too, and then she said that she really liked our church and she wanted to join.
Shanna Arnold:She always was at my house and so usually late at night when we had—not late at night, but later on in the evening where we had scripture study and prayer as a family, and we invited her to join us, since she was there and she loved it. She just says I love how your family is so Christ-focused and how y'all are there for each other, support each other. And she told her mom that she really wanted to go to Shanna's church, really wanted to join. Her mom was happy at first, but then she told her husband, janelle's stepfather, that Janelle had found a church that she wanted to go to. He asked what church it was and then, after he found out it was the Mormon church, then he did not let her even. He didn't want me to be friends with her anymore. But he liked me so much that he said you can still be friends with her, but I don't want you going over to her house anymore.
Alisha Coakley:Oh, dang, wow. And you at the time, um, you were really into uh was it softball, yes, softball. Right, tell us a little bit about that, like like you were really good, weren't you?
Shanna Arnold:yeah, well, I don't want to toot my own horn or anything oh toot it but you know, I had to learn all this because I obviously forgot, but the memories came back to me. And but you know, I had to learn all this because I obviously forgot, but the memories came back to me and that was important, you know, and that was very touching for me to be able to remember.
Shanna Arnold:But I was on a play stop ball, like starting when I was like eight or nine, and then, I was on this team then, first starting out, and then, um, as I got older, you know, more teams wanted me to play for them, and then I joined an all-star team and then, after that, they wanted me to play on these tournament teams, and I was on six softball teams at one time playing.
Alisha Coakley:Oh my gosh.
Shanna Arnold:On the all-star team and the traveling team and just everything. And then the only thing about that that the coaches didn't really like was that I refused to play softball on Sundays, and I think that helped. Bless me, you know.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah.
Shanna Arnold:And after my accident I was supposed to get a softball scholarship somewhere to college. I had scouts looking at me when I was still a freshman and they didn't believe that I was a freshman. They thought I was a junior or senior. Because, yeah, because of how?
Alisha Coakley:good you were.
Shanna Arnold:They were surprised when my dad told them I was a freshman and they were just taken aback. And then those same colleges that wanted me you know they all prayed for me and they wrote me letters and stuff about how. You know they all prayed for me and they wrote me letters and stuff about how you know, how God was in control and stuff and how I was going to fight through this and that they're still I'm on top of their um prayer list.
Alisha Coakley:Wow.
Shanna Arnold:That's awesome yeah.
Alisha Coakley:So, so, shanna, and and, and, and I'm trying to think back to, like the, you know, when you talked to me a little bit about your story before, because there were some things that were just so amazing and miraculous. One of the things that you talked to me about was the cell phone. Do you want to tell us what happened with the cell phone, like, what was that all about?
Shanna Arnold:Okay, I was, you know, 15 and and, but I didn't have a cell phone yet. Um, because they just came out not too long ago.
Shanna Arnold:I guess they became really popular not too long ago and I didn't need a cell phone, right um but then I begged my mom to let me take her phone to the game, because I wanted a cell phone. Um, she says no, shannon, you can't, because courtney has a phone. If there's an emergency you can call from her phone. And I said, no, she says you need something, call from her phone. And then I said but, mom, I was a teenager. But what? There's's an accident, I need your phone, just in case. No, just in case, not thinking that anything was going to happen. But she eventually handed it to me and said just promise me that you'll bring it back. I said, mom, I promise.
Shanna Arnold:And then, after the accident happened, my friend's cell phone flew out of her car. She couldn't find it. There was broken glass and stickers everywhere. So she tried to find her phone but it was nowhere to be found. She couldn't find it because it was so dark. And she even tried to fly down cars but they couldn't see her. And so she said a prayer to God to ask him for help, you know. And she went to go find her shoes, because her shoes flew off in the car During the accident. And she found her shoes eventually, and in my right shoes, my mom's cell phone that still worked, so it flew out of my pocket and in her shoe.
Alisha Coakley:Oh my gosh.
Shanna Arnold:That's how it popped out. It landed in your friend's shoe. Yep.
Alisha Coakley:Wow, oh my goodness, how was that? I mean, I know you weren't coherent for when the accident happened or right afterwards, but I know that you were able to talk to family and friends what happened when they got to the hospital, because I know you had mentioned that you and your best friend Janelle, you guys looked like twins. Yes, we did, didn't you Like uncanny? What was the difference?
Shanna Arnold:Well, okay, I'll go back and tell you my friends, like my family, used to always get us mixed up when we were.
Shanna Arnold:When our backs were mixed up and then they couldn't tell us apart of the accident, they picked up me through helicopter and then they rushed me into the emergency room or the OR, and then our both sets of parents were there, or her mom was there, janelle's mom was there, and then my mom and dad were there and then they said quick, identify your daughter. And then they looked at this girl going down the hall on the bed and then they said, well, they look so much alike we can't tell them apart. And then the doctors were like, well, how can we tell them apart, you know? And then they said well, this one, the one who's breathing alive, has blue eyes. And that was obviously me, and my friend's mom just lost it and my parents heard her. She's on the other side of the hospital, but they heard her scream from where they're at.
Shanna Arnold:Yeah, and my mom wrote in this journal for me and she said you know, learning that your best friend had died, that has got to be the hardest thing you know, and I don't know how you can recover from that. Well, she didn't say that. The hardest thing you know and I don't know how you can recover from that. Well, she didn't say that. But I said you know, because it was hard for me at the very beginning.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, how long was it before you woke up?
Shanna Arnold:Three and a half months.
Alisha Coakley:So you were in a coma for three and a half months.
Shanna Arnold:Yes, and usually if you're in a coma for longer than two weeks weeks, then doctors just tell you you're going to be a vegetable for the rest of your life. That's what they told my parents, and somehow their faith just told them that I'd be okay Now. They didn't know if I was going to make it or not, but if I was to pass on, they knew that was my time. But if I stayed to pass on, they knew that was my time.
Scott Brandley:But if I stayed, then they knew that I had more work to do here. Yeah, do you remember?
Shanna Arnold:anything while you were in the coma? Um, I, yes, I do. I remember people talking to me and I can hear people talking to me, but I had I couldn't talk to back to them. So it was like people were talking to me, but I had I couldn't talk to back to them. So it was like people were talking to me and I, you know, just, I just stayed there and because there's different stages of coma, and I got to the point where my eyes were open and they were huge because of some of the medication I was on and um, so I was awake. So I was awake and everything I was awake, but I was technically still asleep, but I could hear everything, but just wasn't able to communicate with them.
Alisha Coakley:When you finally could communicate with them, did they tell you what happened?
Shanna Arnold:You know the accident Well not right away, First of all because I was a good speller. In school they brought a scrabble board up and told me to write down the letters of how I wanted to communicate, Because I was there but I was not able to speak to them. And then a funny story about that I was not eating the food that the hospital tried to feed me and I just kept refusing it. And then my parents would ask me questions. They're like, why aren't you eating the food? Because I was being too fed then. But they, I, they hand me the board and I spelled it n-a-s-t-y.
Shanna Arnold:and then they're like okay, it's nasty, so they got me to eat other other foods. Wow.
Scott Brandley:Do you remember coming out of the coma at all?
Shanna Arnold:Maybe a little bit, but not a whole lot. I remember that there were a lot of people and kids there from my school that were trying to prank over me and stuff school that were trying to um praying over me and stuff, and it was like a hospital was flooded with kids and people wanting to see me and hospitals.
Shanna Arnold:Like the other patients, they had no room to get into their rooms. So they asked my parents to make an announcement for my school and church not to come visit me for a while because no one could visit. So my dad was in a state of presidency at church. He mentioned to all the wards not to come visit me, you know, right now, because there's just too much. They just need to focus on me and not have everybody around and everything.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, and I remember you telling me something about your dad giving you a blessing.
Shanna Arnold:Yeah, yes, it's pretty cool. My dad and brother, my oldest brother, jeremy, they gave me a priesthood blessing whenever I was stable enough to have them do that, whenever I was stable enough to have them do that. So they blessed me that I would have a full and complete recovery. And then, after my dad said amen, then my mom looked at him, my dad had tears in his eyes and she said was that a blessing from you or was that from Heavenly Father? And my dad said, honestly, I don't really know. He could not know, he didn't know if he was just saying that out of the love the Father has for our daughter. And then Elder Stuckey came, because we're doing a state conference in, I guess, october. And then he came to Lubbock and my dad's job was to pick up the brethren from the airport, bring them to the State Center. But, um, at that point in time my dad, my mom, said to my dad, are you gonna go? We're gonna tell them about shanna and her accident. My dad's, like you know, dear. I have thought about that, but I prayed and you know the people in lubbock need to hear from these elders, and so the um. So they're not, I'm not gonna bother them with coming to see Shanna, and so I'm always like, okay, I agree with that.
Shanna Arnold:And then so the days went on right, well, just trying to pick up the um present, you know, the church leaders um to from the airport, and my dad picked them up and got in the car and one of the first things that Elder Stuckey said to my dad was President, can we go to the hospital to give your daughter a blessing? And he had no idea how they heard, but they, they heard, you know, about the tragic accident that I just went through. So, yeah, it was a blessing that. And then they gave the blessing that, almost the exact same blessing that my dad, my brother, gave me. So after that my mom and dad were like that came from the lord then, because it was almost verbatim, you know, almost, I guess that's not the word but almost identical to each other.
Alisha Coakley:So wow, that's awesome so when you woke up, um, you found out that you had lost janelle. And then you got I. I assume they told you how hard of a battle you were going to have to fight to to recover. What? What was it that they told you like, how much work did you have to put into it? And what did they think was going to happen after you did wake up and they were like, okay, well, she's not going to be a vegetable, but did they ever think that you fully recover at all, or they didn't think I'd recover.
Shanna Arnold:they kept, you know, telling um, tell, I guess, my parents that um, if she recovers she's not gonna be able to live a normal life. And they said she'll never get married, never have kids, she won't be able to be stable enough to be on her own. And so that all happened. And I proved them wrong. Whenever I met Dane, my husband, you know he was a different guy, he was not like the other ones, but he wasn't a member of the church. And then I invited him to come to church. We met on a blind date on April 4th.
Shanna Arnold:And then I invited him to church that night. I said hey, you want to come to church with me on Sunday? He says I'm not doing anything so sure, because he had been church hopping around but he didn't find a church that suited him all the way. And he came to church with me on the first Sunday of the month, which is Fast and Test Morning Sunday, and that can make it or break it for somebody. They can say that they really felt the spirit there or some, depending on what the testimonies are about. They can say that was the weirdest thing ever. It scared people away. But I asked Dane how it was because I was so nervous. That was the weirdest thing ever. I'm scared of people away, yep.
Shanna Arnold:But I asked Dane how it was because I was so nervous. You know and I don't know if I paid attention at all Just you know, kind of shaking and like so Dane, how did you like it? And he goes honestly, that was the coolest thing I've ever been to. How you have your pastor invite members of the church to come up and bear their souls to you and I'm like I'm sorry, but that's called a bishop, and he invites the members of the congregation to their testimony. He's like, okay, whatever it was. I'm like, yeah, and then he came to church with me for three months and then decided he wanted to be baptized and he was really legit, you know, and he, his big hang up was he didn't smoke or drink or anything, but he did love his coffee.
Shanna Arnold:He drank it so much, you know, know, and it didn't face him so he'd drink it throughout the day and at night and everything when he wound down for the evening and and then I told him we ordered the word of wisdom with the sister missionaries and he was like and when they brought no coffee or tea, he goes oh man, tea is fine, but coffee I just, I don't know how to, how you do that without coffee? You know, I don't know how to do life without coffee, because he used to grind his own beans and prepare his own coffee and he'd drink it there the whole day because it didn't face him. Wow, you know, we really prayed hard for him, you know. And then he told me he's like you know, I've been praying about um drinking coffee and we're not. He goes, he said. But I was like, what's the harm? One more pot, just for good riddance, you know. So then he said I'll just have one more pot of coffee and then I'll give it up.
Shanna Arnold:Well, he took his ground beans that he grinded himself and he was setting up his coffee and then he put all his beans in the coffee pot and then he went to go plug in the coffee. And then he went to go plug in the coffee pot and then did a big ground pile around the coffee pot and he said, oh, coffee pot's dead. I guess it means no more coffee. So he plugged it and he threw it away. He threw all his ground beans away, whatever it was, and just said, okay, no more coffee.
Shanna Arnold:And then gave it a cold turkey.
Alisha Coakley:Wow, that's cool coffee and then get a cold turkey. Wow. So when you guys started dating, were you still going through your recovery as far as like, were you still relearning how to walk and move and talk? How long did that take you? Well, you know what I mean. Like what did that look like? What did that healing process look like for you?
Shanna Arnold:It was for me personally. It was a long process, you know, but, but looking back now it just seems so short, you know. But it took me. I okay, I came back to school and I rejoined my softball team. I was pulled up as a freshman I was the only freshman who's got pulled up to the varsity softball team and so a freshman whenever I was a freshman, was in junior high, so I had to go from the junior high to the high school every day to practice softball. And then my sophomore year like I was 60 weeks into it, and so I played my whole freshman year. And then I missed my sophomore year and then I went to school, returned to school the second semester, my junior year. So I started playing again on the softball team. My junior year, um, back to school, because softball is the end of the year, you know. And then I played my senior year too. So I played. I still played for three years, not four, I kind of hope to.
Scott Brandley:But yeah, how long did it, so you didn't have any broken bones or anything.
Shanna Arnold:Actually I didn't really have many cuts or scars or anything, but they said the biggest injury was to my head. I went through, I had a traumatic brain injury and I broke my pelvis and some of my other bones I don't remember which ones. But then, after I got better and everything after I got married, I said I went to my OBGYN appointment and I said now, can you tell me? I've always wanted to be a mom for ever, since I was little. You know, I got my first nephew I got at age nine and I watched him a lot and I just fell in love with him.
Shanna Arnold:So I always wanted to be, um, a mom and I babysat for our whole church pretty much. They'd call me if they needed to go somewhere and do something and I'd always be um, willing to babysit if I could. And then, um, and, and they told me that I could not have kids because, well, they said, you might, could get pregnant, but you won't be able to have the child survive because it won't progress far enough, because you broke your pelvis and so it's blocking the way, the way that the baby will grow. Oh, wow. And they said that, yeah, so you'll probably never have kids. You can adopt kids, but you won't have kids of your own. Wow, I was devastated because I loved kids, you know.
Alisha Coakley:Mm-hmm.
Shanna Arnold:And I got my patriarchal blessing for this and it says that my blessing that some of my greatest joys will be when raising my children. And so I just held on to that hope, you know, that I could have children. And then my dad reminded me that I could be in this life for the next. That's what people kept telling me. I'm like, no, I think that it's for this life, because, yeah, I just think it is. And so they were like okay, you can believe what you want to Shanna. You know, try and give me some grace, I guess you could say. And then it was about four and a half years into our marriage I finally got pregnant and it was a hard delivery.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, I was going to say, was it scary too? I mean, you were probably overjoyed but also scared, not knowing.
Shanna Arnold:Yes, not knowing, I was so scared that the baby wouldn't survive in me. I had my hospital bag packed for months before I was due and then I just always had that feeling. And then they said that your baby will come early because there's not enough room. Well, I waited them that the week before or the month before I waited, nothing happened. Then, a week before I waited, nothing happened. Week before I waited, nothing happened. Then, um, let's see, five days after I was due, then I was like, okay, I feel like I really feel like it's coming, she's coming. So then I went to the hospital and they said that I was in labor and I was in labor for about 40 hours. Oh, my gosh. He finally came on July 5th. I was watching fireworks from a hospital window. Oh, cause I was. I made it July 4th, before the July, and so I was watching fireworks. I was in pain.
Scott Brandley:Cause you were having a baby yes. Pain Because you were having a baby yes.
Shanna Arnold:Or trying to have a baby.
Scott Brandley:But she was stubborn, but everything worked out Like she was fine, she was safe.
Alisha Coakley:How big was she? Did she end up being like a normal size baby?
Shanna Arnold:She was 17.
Alisha Coakley:Absolutely perfect. That's good. Wow, and then you have a second too. Absolutely perfect, that's good. Wow. And then you have a second daughter too.
Shanna Arnold:And that was a hard one Because I had, you know, the first one. Delivery was so hard for me that I'm like I can't do this again. And they was like that's okay, you know, know, we'll raise one kid and that's fine, um. But then, you know, I absolutely loved um being a mom to Olivia, my first, my oldest daughter. And then, as time went on, I had the feeling that I had a prompting that I should have another baby and I was like, probably not, this is probably not a prompting, it's probably just a feeling that I had because I want to have another baby or something. And then, and then we tried again to have a baby, and for years and she didn't come. You know, I didn't get pregnant until Olivia was about almost five years, almost five years old.
Alisha Coakley:so that's when I had probably some so how was that, how was that pregnancy for you like? Oh, it was easy yes, it was easy.
Shanna Arnold:I was still working at the um elementary school when that happened, when I got pregnant, and then, um, like, I was expected to leave um work like months before the end of school because I didn't know how it's going to be. You know, it wasn't anything at first and it'd been hard, but, um, I worked all the way through school. Um, well, not all the way through school, because she's born in or this semester and then probably was due on. Well, let's see, one hospital gave me the due date of March 28th or something like that, or no February 28th, and then I that no February 28th. And then I switched hospitals because of the insurance and stuff, and then that hospital said I have a due date, your due date. I said I already know my due date, you know it's February 24th or something like that. And they said who gave it to you? I said Covenant did. And they said well, on our charts it shows that you're due on like March 14th. I'm like, hmm, I can see that's kind of a big gap. So one of you guys are wrong.
Shanna Arnold:Well, turns out they're both wrong. I was there. They're trying to find it. No, well, my due date was that the whole time I was there. And then finally I gave birth and I was holding Briley and then a nurse walked in and said I found your due date, oh great. And they said your baby's due on March 3rd and it was March 2nd. So I was like, so they marched, hers, you know, came as early. You know she came early.
Alisha Coakley:So Right, wow, that is so cool. So one of the other things that I remember you talking to me about was that that feeling that you had to do your best friend's work.
Shanna Arnold:Oh, yes, I was still in the hospital, I was in rehab and everything, but then I had a feeling that it had been a year. I had a feeling that I needed to do Janelle's baptism work. So that mean, that feeling just kept coming to my mind. When that, that feeling, just that urge just kept coming to me. And so of course my parents were like, okay, let's get it done. You feel like it's the time. And so I got baptized for her.
Shanna Arnold:But then, through my depression and everything, I was like she's not going to accept it. I just had those thoughts. But then I got married right, and I always wanted to have one of my friends be at my wedding, my school friends, you know, and I had really good family and friends at my wedding and I was just missing one person. That one person was Janelle. But as we were getting married the brother who was doing our ceiling I think yeah, our ceiling he looked at me and said there's someone very special in this room, I just got married. So I was like, okay, yeah, there's someone very special in this room, I just got married. So I was like, okay, yeah, there are a lot of people, such people here today.
Shanna Arnold:And then, after I came back home from my honeymoon, my mom talked to me. She said do you understand what Brother Anderson was saying to you? And I was saying he said there's lots of special people there, and I mean my whole family was there. So yes, you're special. He said, no, someone special came, was at your wedding. And she said who have you always wanted to be at your wedding? And I was like Janelle, and she goes. He saw her there and I just kind of started tearing up and I told my parents like that means she accepted. And my dad was like maybe, you know, hopefully she did. I'm like no, no, dad don't understand. She was in the temple. So that means she accepted the gospel, because you can't be in the temple if you're not a member of the church. And he's like you're right. So I was actually smart on something in there.
Alisha Coakley:So wow a good instinct, yeah, wow. So how? How has it been like navigating life? Because I know you still have things that you're fighting through, right.
Shanna Arnold:Oh yeah.
Alisha Coakley:You still have things from the accident that physical and emotional and spiritual. So like what does life look like today for you? You know what battles are you still fighting and how have you been able to keep going. You know what battles.
Shanna Arnold:Are you still fighting and how have you been able to keep going? Well, my life is really like a roller coaster. It goes up and down because my my feelings and emotions change all the time, like I have good weeks and then I have really bad weeks, you know, and um and that's from the brain injury, correct? Yes, like it my traumatic brain injury and then um do you have any?
Alisha Coakley:do you have any more pain, like when you walk or anything like that, from like your broken pelvis or um, or do you feel pretty strong now?
Shanna Arnold:I um, I only get pain usually during the moisture months because of the cold, the coldness, and so right now I'm just trying to hang on, you know, and I get so cold that. But my husband is so good to me, you know, he bought me a heating pad, he bought me a heating blanket this year and he bought me a heating jacket. You know, so nice, and also, um your rumors, I heat up too. So he said, now you can go whenever you're um really struggling. You have um a lot of your mind. You need to let it out. Then, um, my counselor said that walking is good to laugh your emotions steam. So I've been walking and he says now you can go for walks and not be cold, nice during the winter. So he's a good gift giver yeah toast.
Shanna Arnold:Get warm and toasty everywhere you go yes, I love that people are jealous of me. How is motherhood for you?
Alisha Coakley:Yes, I love that People are jealous of me. How is?
Shanna Arnold:motherhood for you. Um, motherhood, uh it's. You know, I love it, you know. But I love kind of the newborn stages and, you know, the young kids stages, because once they turn a certain age then they kind of like don't really respect you as much. I guess you could say no, really no and so I'm not always the coolest mom, you know so that's okay, I'm right up there with you.
Shanna Arnold:We can be uncool together, that's good, my little one still likes me. She still likes me, yeah, but yeah, yeah, my oldest one, I mean, she loves me, but she doesn't like me sometimes.
Alisha Coakley:Let's just say that you, but you butt heads a little bit sometimes, yeah, yeah it happens.
Scott Brandley:So when you look back on your life and the accident, like would you change it, Um, oh, that's a hard question.
Shanna Arnold:Um, well, no, because this is who God wanted me to be. You know, it took me a long time to realize and accept that I was in so much pain, and I used to write poems to express my sadness and grief, and um, so that's what I do a lot of times. And for um, I got a kidney stone. Whenever, um year 2000, I got a kidney stone whenever, um year 2000, I got a kidney stone, and so all I could do was lay in bed. And I didn't know. I had a kidney stone.
Shanna Arnold:I went to two doctors and they said nothing's wrong with you, it's probably residual pain from your car accident, like okay. And then another one said you need to toughen up because there's nothing wrong with you. It's like okay, bye-bye and um, then my, I went to see my brother-in-law because my dad suggested it, because he's a pain doctor, and he had another, a different doctor, give me scans, and they found a 9.2 millimeter kidney stone. Holy cow, and I had um, they had to blast it into tiny pieces, so it took longer, um, for it to pass, because it just went out in small chunks, you know. So that was very painful, yeah, so you did a lot of writing during that time?
Alisha Coakley:yes, a lot. Mm-hmm, so that was very painful. Yeah, so you did a lot of writing during that time? Yes, a lot Did you. Do you remember writing before your accident, or do you think your accident kind of gave you, like opened up, that gift for you?
Shanna Arnold:Well, I always enjoyed writing before an accident, you know, and I loved, like English class and where we had to write stories. I loved to do that. But then after my accident, people kept saying you write a book. I've gotten that comment like 500 times. I know Well 501 because I told you to and so I really been thinking about it. But then my friend, I told my friend in Delisa Hargrove she is an amazing woman and she actually writes books and stuff and she said she wants to help me write my story.
Scott Brandley:And so we're like on page 39 or something good.
Alisha Coakley:You got it started. Yep, that's awesome sunday, so I love that. Well, shanna, I I'm so impressed by you. I know I've only known you for a short time, but every time that I see you in church you just light up the room Like you're smiling and you're happy, and you get up there and you do your best. You know, no matter what job you're given or if you're trying to, you know, participate in lessons or whatever you're doing, like I feel like you really show that you're trying to live life, you know.
Alisha Coakley:Yes, show that you're trying to live life, you know, and for the things that you've gone through, like you definitely would have every reasonable reason I guess logical reason to shrink. But, you haven't.
Shanna Arnold:But I had thought about it, you know, because this depression it just bogs me down and I still go to counseling for that. But I want to up and up right now. You are.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah. Well, I think it's incredible and you truly are a walking miracle, and I know one of the things you mentioned was that a lot of people in the city here, they were watching your story, they were praying for you, they were following your story, they were praying for you, they were following your progress, and so you got to really be a light to a lot of people in the area, and not just your family and your loved ones or even just the people in school, but a ton of people were able to, to you know, raise their voices up to the Lord. Well, if you could leave one message for our listeners today, I like to call it your testimony takeaway. What would you leave for those who are listening to your story?
Shanna Arnold:Well, something that's been hard for me through this whole experience is trusting the Lord. I would just say trust the Lord and don't give up. Keep fighting, because great miracles can and will happen if you do that.
Scott Brandley:That's hard sometimes when you're going through you know accidents or tragedy or loss right From your best friend. But we're put on this earth to go through some hard things to help us learn and enjoy the good Right.
Shanna Arnold:Yes.
Scott Brandley:So I'm glad you took you. You've learned and grown from this I have. It's been hard, but you took you've learned and grown from this.
Shanna Arnold:I have. It's been hard, but you know yes.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, yeah, and I'm sure that you know, with everything that you had to go through, your family had to adjust too. Oh yes, you know, and they had a lot of things that they had to go through. Oh, yes, yes. So you know, it's not just your tragedy. It's your trial, but it's also your family's trial and your success, Right? Yes, it's turned out to be something that's shown you just how incredibly strong you really are, so that's awesome.
Scott Brandley:And how much God is in our lives.
Shanna Arnold:Yes, and sometimes I believe that and sometimes, unfortunately, I don't.
Alisha Coakley:I think that's normal.
Scott Brandley:I think it's normal for us to doubt. I think that's life too right.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, exactly, yeah, oh man. Well, shanna, thank you so much for coming on tonight and for sharing your story with everybody and sharing your light and your perspective and your testimony. We really, really appreciate it, and I am so blessed to call you my friend and so happy that I don't have to pay you to be my friend. Not yet, not yet. No, that is true, I'm on a free trial basis right now, right, yes, oh no, but it's been a very uplifting story and definitely something that kind of puts things back into perspective for me.
Alisha Coakley:So thank you so much for that.
Shanna Arnold:Thank you for letting me share and I hope that somebody can take away something from this. You know my tragedy.
Alisha Coakley:I'm sure they can.
Scott Brandley:Yeah, definitely. Well, and thank you everyone for watching and tuning in to Shanna's story. If you feel that this could help somebody, go ahead and share it. You know, hit that share button and let's get this story out there so that people can hear it as well. And if you have a story that you want to share it with others, go to latterdaylightscom and let's let's hear about it.
Alisha Coakley:Absolutely, and we would love to hear from you guys too. We love getting comments on on these stories and just um, let us know you know what you took away from Shanna's story and um, what part meant, meant the most to you and really touched your heart. So we would love to hear that, All right, Well, that's all that we have for today, Shanna, thank you again for stopping by and sharing all of this with us. We really, really appreciate you and we appreciate all of our listeners. Until next week, we hope you guys have a beautiful, beautiful week. Talk to you later.
Scott Brandley:Great Thanks, see you guys.
Shanna Arnold:Bye.