A former Army chaplain described the horror he experienced the day his daughter was shot during the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend.
“I was asking God to make sure Michelle isn’t in a lot of pain or was suffering,” Michael Grady told Military.com. “That we would get through to her and find her. That was my prayer.”
Grady’s daughter Michelle was shot three times during the attack. She called her mother from the store, who then called Grady.
He described the seven-minute drive to the Walmart where the carnage unfolded as among the longest drive of his life.
“I know she wasn’t OK, but I told her she was going to be OK,” he said once he finally saw his daughter.
His hours spent in a hospital waiting room while his daughter was in surgery were even more difficult.
“I wouldn’t try to make excuses for God,” he said. “God has a purpose, even in this. And he stands with you, and the people of God stand with you to cover you with love and grace and walk with you on this journey. It says, ‘Walk through the valley of the shadow of death,’ not ‘Stop in the valley of the shadow of death,'” referencing Psalm 23.
Michelle Grady made it out of the procedure in stable condition and continues to recover.
“We’ve been with her ever since she was shot. We’ve been here every day,” he told Military.com. “And we will be here to try to dry the tears and let her know it will all be OK.”
