The story of a miracle-filled life: Janet Hammett
Readers who would be willing to share stories of miracles in their own lives or the lives of others are encouraged to contact Coate by phone (706-5297) or email (bscoate@aol.com).
Janet Hammett has given new meaning to the word, miracle.
Her life has been a series of miracles. In 2002, she survived a heart attack. Nine years later she was hit with liver cancer, and in 2014, she fought a second battle with this enemy that was trying to kill her. Then in 2019, her old nemesis struck again; this time it was her lungs. While she was fighting this battle, Wayne, her husband of 37 years, died.
Hardly anyone would have been surprised if Janet had given up on life at that point, but she didn’t. Today her email address proclaims her faith. She signs herself, “grateful.”
Actually, Janet’s series of miracles began in the late 1990s when she survived an armed robbery while working at Shoe Pavilion in Fresno. There was a step up to where the cashiers were. She was tending to a woman customer, when a man stepped to where she was and ordered her to give him the money. She looked up and everyone in the store was on the ground. Janet glanced down and to her left. The man had a silver handgun. She gave him the money, and then he said to get down on the ground. She prayed all of the way to the floor. The robber then left, stealing some shoes on the way out and leaving Janet unharmed. This was her first miracle. Many more would follow.
Janet clearly remembers that day 19 years ago when she had her heart attack. It was her mother’s birthday, and she was helping her move. Suddenly she didn’t fell well, so she called a friend who told her to call 911. The ambulance came, and Janet prayed all the way to the hospital. They admitted her, and while they were wheeling her to the cath lab, her heart stopped; she died. They resuscitated her, but told her husband that she stood a good chance of being brain dead. As it turned out, Janet experienced a second miracle — she survived the heart attack, and she wasn’t brain dead. In time, she left the hospital completely lucid.
In 2011, Janet had another life-threatening encounter. She was diagnosed with liver cancer. The first thing out of her mouth to the doctor was that she had faith. After thinking about it for a while, however, she got scared and wondered if she would die from it. Then the thought came to her that God had saved her from death with her heart attack, and He could save her from this, too.
They sent Janet to Stanford, where they operated and took out a one-pound tumor the size of a grapefruit. Janet returned home a very thankful woman. Then, her enemy struck again. In 2014, the cancer came back. Once more, they performed surgery and extracted another tumor. Victory had come to Janet once more.
However, in 2019, Janet had to go to battle again. This time it was lung cancer. She went through chemo and radiation three days in a row every week, for six weeks. The chemo was awful. She lost 25 pounds. In time her hair grew back, but she lost her husband just as she completed her chemo treatment. Many wondered how she could go on. She has an answer.
Today, as Janet reflects on her miracle filled life, she is firm in her belief that God was with her during each of these crises. She wants to inspire and give hope to others that they can get through anything through faith.
