Pastor Struck by Tree While Praying Making Full Recovery

Six months ago, Pastor Sharon Davis was practicing her evening ritual of taking a walk around her Seminole Heights neighborhood before settling on the stoop of her church to pray.

That's when a laurel oak tree careened onto her head, breaking her shoulder and forcing her to attend physical therapy to regain her range of motion.

She's since made a full recovery, telling her story to church members and curious residents in the community who see her in the neighborhood.

Two weeks after the July 1 freak accident, Davis was back in the pulpit at Seminole Heights United Methodist Church.

"I preached on the miracle of Seminole Heights," she said. "That's what the news media said. I thought about all the times our preschool kids sit on the front steps. I thought about it as people pour out of the church on Sunday morning. In the emergency room, I thought, 'Thank God it was me that it hit."'

Her prayer ritual

Davis is the daughter of a pastor who spent her career in the counseling field. Born in Staten Island, she and husband Len reside in the parsonage across the street from the church she's pastored since 2010.

Her habit of walking for about half and hour and praying in the front of her church helps her compose sermons.

"People wonder why I'm carrying these pieces of paper, walking around the neighborhood," she said. "I feel close to God in nature."

Around 8 p.m. on July 1, Davis headed out for her walk while her husband stayed behind at the parsonage. As usual, she ended up on the church stoop.

"I didn't have a specific prayer in mind," she said. "I was praying on how we could connect to this neighborhood. We've been in a visioning process to see how we can reach out."

Eyes closed, her serenity was interrupted by what sounded like firecrackers.

"I thought, 'Why are people doing firecrackers this close to a church?' It seemed logical, since it was almost the Fourth of July."

The sound was anything but celebratory. The sound she heard was of a laurel oak tree uprooting from the ground careening toward Davis.

With no time to get out of the way, she opened her eyes long enough to put her head down.

The tree struck her head and shoulder, knocking her 10 feet to the ground into bushes next to the church.

"I came alert, and there was blood everywhere," she said. "I realized 'I can't get up, and I'm in pain.' So I start to holler."

Strangers ran over. One woman screamed.

"You gotta move her!" Davis recalled the woman saying. "There's ants all over her!"

Davis advised against being moved and asked someone to get her husband.

She was carted off to St. Joseph's Hospital as parishioners watched in fear. She received four staples in her head. She was also treated for a broken shoulder.

The road to recovery

She spent one night in the hospital before attending weeks of physical therapy. While she got better, the youth group brought cards. Church members banded together and called the insurance company. Others took over her administrative duties and attended meetings for her.

Eventually, Davis had the trees on the church's property assessed. Six trees - including the one that hit her - were removed due to their deteriorating conditions.

Davis tells her story to anyone who asks. She talked about the accident last month after concerned attendees of an elementary school concert at the church inquired. She said she doesn't know why she was spared.

For now, she's working on a sermon series about talking in the dark and praying when life doesn't make sense.