Jesus heals paralyzed Salvation Army volunteer
Longtime Rochester Salvation Army volunteer Ema McKinley continues to gain worldwide attention following a Christmas Eve miracle that has Mayo Clinic doctors scratching their heads: One day she was paralyzed, the next she was walking.
Ema fell off a ladder in 1993 and developed Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome (RSD), a rare nerve disorder that cripples limbs and causes extreme sensitivity to touch. RSD pain – known as causalgia – is said to hurt more than almost anything known to man, surpassing cancer, amputation and child birth, according to the McGill Pain Index.
By 1995, the RSD had taken over Ema’s entire body (see photos). For the next 17 years, she was stuck in a wheelchair with her spine bent 90 degrees, her left foot shriveled and her left hand locked shut. High-pitched noises, bright lights or even the rumbling of a semitrailer made her skin feel like it was on fire.
“A gust of wind made my arm feel like it was in a 400-degree oven,” said Ema, whose daily intake of morphine often reached 2,000 mg – literally an elephant dose.
Ema still suffers from RSD, though the pain is not as severe.
Unshakeable faith
Through it all, Ema’s faith in God was unshakeable. Despite being deformed and in tortuous pain for nearly two decades, she was never bitter at God. Instead, she was committed to spreading His love everywhere she went.
“You could ask the door guys at Mayo Clinic, the clerks in Walmart – everywhere we went, people were touched by Ema because she always had a smile on her face,” said Cathy Ruggeberg, Ema’s personal caregiver since 1994.
You could ask everybody at the Rochester Salvation Army, too. Ema has been volunteering there every Thanksgiving and Christmas since 1984. Even after her accident in 1993, being in a wheelchair never stopped her from spreading joy.
“She’d sit at the door every Thanksgiving and Christmas to welcome all the people coming to eat,” said Major James Frye, leader of the Rochester Salvation Army. “She’d tell them not to give up. She’d say, ‘Look how bad I have it, and I’m still able to be positive and give thanks to Jesus.’”
The miracle
God rewarded Ema for her faith in the wee hours of Christmas Eve 2011. After accidentally falling out of her wheelchair at about 1 a.m., she spent the entire night on the floor of her home screaming for help and writhing in impossible pain.
Then Jesus showed up. Suddenly, she could feel Him healing her spine. She watched as He opened her hand and regenerated the rotten flesh covering its underside, skin that hadn’t seen the light of day in 17 years. Not only did Jesus straighten her foot, He grew it back to its original size. When Jesus was finished, He appeared to Ema in a white robe, offered His hand and helped her to her feet. She could walk.
“I was shaking and crying,” Ema said. “This miracle was just so over the top – God is trying to get the attention of His children.”
No medical answers
Ema’s entire medical history is documented at Mayo Clinic, whose doctors cannot explain how she healed so quickly.
“While I currently cannot offer a clear medical explanation for her dramatic improvement, and cannot speculate regarding other possible interpretations, I am nonetheless delighted with Ema’s recent progress,” Dr. David Bell, McKinley’s primary doctor at Mayo Clinic for the past 10 years, wrote after the miracle.
Dr. C. Robert Stanhope, a Mayo Clinic surgeon of 30 years, offered this: “What happened to Ema last Christmas is simply not explainable to my knowledge from a medical perspective. I believe the only explanation has to be that God intervened in her life with a miracle.”
Volunteering on two feet
On both Thanksgiving and Christmas 2012, Ema walked through the doors of the Rochester Salvation Army to continue her tradition of service. In both instances, jaws hit the floor.
“One lady’s eyes got huge and her mouth dropped – the realization had kicked in that Ema wasn’t in her wheelchair,” Ruggeberg said. “Tears were falling down her cheeks.”
Tears were falling down everybody’s cheeks.
“For the first time in years, I was able to give these people a hug at eye level,” Ema said. “I enjoyed every minute of sharing the joy, of seeing their expressions. We were all so overwhelmed.”
Spreading the news
Ema’s story continues to spread around the world. In addition to regular speaking engagements in the Midwest and invites to do so from across the country and world, she’s been featured on “The 700 Club” and is in the middle of a book deal that’s being pursued by multiple publishers.
Ema’s message is simple: “I want the world to know that Jesus is real,” she said. “This is not my miracle. This is everybody’s miracle. No matter what you’re going through, take His hand and trust Him – He’ll be with you every step of the way.”