I had taken a couple of days vacation so I could build a new shed out behind our house. My wife, Lee Anne, was 8 months pregnant and I was sweating like a race horse trying to put this 12x16 barn style shed up by myself.
Lee Anne’s grandmother had arrived the day before on the airlines to spend a week with Lee Anne. Lee had a doctor’s appointment the Friday afternoon of July 2, 1998. They left me to my misery hammering and nailing on my shed.
Later that day, as I was wondering when that wife of mine was going to get home, I saw the sheriff pull up in my driveway. I thought, “What have I done now?” As I exited the fence, he got out of his cruiser.
Sheriff: “Mr. Johnson?”
Dan: “Yes, sir.”
Sheriff: “Your wife’s in labor at the Baptist Hospital.”
Dan: “Are you kidding?”
Sheriff: “No. They couldn’t reach you on the phone, so they sent me to see if I could find you.”
Dan: “Are you prepared to take me?”
Sheriff: “No. We don’t get outside Bedford county.”
Dan: “OK, thank you, sir.”
I rushed inside and found messages on the answering machine. I returned Lee Anne’s call at the hospital. She said, “Dan, I’m having this baby.” I said, “Can’t they stop it?” She said, “Nope.” I said, “Have they given you something to induce labor?” Lee Anne said, “No.”
So, I decided I needed to go to the hospital. I rushed around, got the video camera, and a couple of things I thought Lee Anne would need and ran out to the car. And guess what, the battery in my 1983 Nissan Sentra was dead. It wouldn’t even turn over. I ran over to the neighbors house and asked if he would be willing to give me a jump. He came over and tried to start the car, but the car was not cooperating.
Finally, I called a friend of mine from church, David Boyce, who came and drove me all the way to the Baptist Hospital (1.5 hours away) so I could see my baby being born, but much to my dismay, he had been born 10 minutes after I had talked to Lee Anne, so I missed the whole thing.
Our new son seemed to be doing well for about an hour and then he started having trouble breathing. They took him into intensive care and that is how the next 18 grueling days began. Ben started on oxygen, then x-rays, then they cut a hole in his side because his premature lungs had leaked air into his chest cavity, and then they put him on a ventilator, but because he fought against the machine, they had to paralyze him with a drug. We drove back and forth nearly every day to check on his progress and to hopefully hold his hand.
