Back from the brink, Chan studies at familiar hospital

Dr. Joseph Chan continues his march back from auto accident that nearly killed him

Published: August 25, 2014

By Maryanne Meyerriecks
Fort Smith Correspondent

Maryanne Meyerriecks

Dr. Joseph Chan of Fort Smith was finally able to return to St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana after sustaining multiple injuries during a car wreck in March 2013.

Maryanne Meyerriecks

Dr. Joseph Chan of Fort Smith was finally able to return to St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana after sustaining multiple injuries during a car wreck in March 2013.

FORT SMITH — When seminarian Dr. Joseph Chan began his first year at St. Meinrad Seminary, he wrote, “I pray for God to instill in me the courage to withstand trials, patience in times of restlessness and tenacity to persevere and endure when hope seems elusive in our troubled world.”

He didn’t realize how prophetic those words were until March 10, 2013, when a serious car accident almost ended his life.

Returning to St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana from Fort Smith, he encountered heavy rain and fog on I-44 and his car hit a post. He swerved, hit a guardrail and several more posts and flipped over near Rolla, Mo. He was rushed by ambulance to Mercy St. Louis.

“I was in a combined coma and anesthesia-induced coma for two weeks,” said Chan, who relied on police reports to piece together the details of the accident. “I underwent four months of hospitalization and rehabilitation in St. Louis, during which time I had 17 surgeries. My 18th and final surgery was performed at Mercy Springfield in November 2013.”

He had suffered a traumatic brain injury; intra-cerebral hemorrhage; fractures in his thoracic vertebrae, pelvic ring, ribs, right femur and left wrist; a punctured lung and a ruptured spleen.

“When I first woke up, I was confused and disoriented,” Chan said. “The reality came to me slowly, but I also had wonderful dreams. I dreamed of a white dense cloud in the sky and saw a hand pierce the cloud reaching out for me. The first complete sentence I spoke after emerging from my coma was ‘God came to me.’ I prayed to be enlightened by God’s will.”

During his long convalescence, which required all the courage and perseverance he had prayed for as a new seminarian in 2010, he was continually sustained and encouraged by the prayers, letters and visits of family and friends. Vocations director Msgr. Scott Friend traveled to Mercy St. Louis as soon as Chan was admitted. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor visited him several times when he returned to Fort Smith to make sure his needs for healing and recovery were being met. His sisters traveled from Australia and Florida to be with him during his hospitalization. His fellow seminarians, priests, sisters and parishioners throughout the diocese, and friends from his native Philippines to Australia supported him with letters, e-mails and prayers.

Four months after his accident, Chan was able to return home and follow a full schedule of physical and occupational therapy at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith. Last September, he took his first step toward continuing his seminary studies, studying the Gospel of Mark online through St. Meinrad. Ten months after his accident, in January 2014, he returned to St. Meinrad full-time.

“While in the seminary I still continue my schedule of physical and occupational therapy on my own and receive counseling and continuous spiritual direction. Although I have a hearing aid, I need to practice focused intentionality to communicate and have difficulty with background noise,” he said.

This summer, Chan, 49, did his clinical chaplaincy rotation at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith, where he had served as hospice director prior to entering the seminary.

“As a physician in hospice, when I would encounter patients in distress, I could decide which hat to wear. I would discern the most effective modality of intervention, whether meds were maxed out or whether the patient was in spiritual distress. There was fluidity in the care,” he said.

“As a chaplain, I minister as Christ. When I entered the seminary I felt that we are consecrated through the formation process, but after the accident it was Christ’s actual wounds that I bore. The mystery of priestly ordination is that you are ministering as Christ to your brothers and sisters in God.”

Chan returned to St. Meinrad this week to study advanced homiletics, the Trinity, canon law and catechetical ministry. He will be assigned to an Indiana parish with a priest-mentor and will work in parish ministry during the semester. In May 2015, one year behind schedule, he hopes to be ordained a transitional deacon in his home parish of St. Boniface Church. With God’s help he plans to be ordained a priest in May 2016.

When Chan entered the seminary, he wrote, “Knowing that Jesus became the ultimate desire of my life is an affirmation. There is no turning back.”

As he continues to move forward, discarding the cane he has used for support, but still moving slowly, he steadfastly overcomes obstacles, realizing that “God’s will, mercy and love is liberating and makes me fearless.”