Woman fulfills a promise to God

NORFOLK, Va. - When students received their nursing pins at Tidewater Community College in Norfolk Thursday, many fulfilled a dream. Shae Troche also fulfilled a promise, to God.

"The promise was, that God, if you spare my life, I promise to fulfill the purpose that you've created me for," Troche told WAVY.com.

Troche made that promise the day she had a stroke. She was 29, the mother of three, and clinically dead - when she had an out of body experience. "I seen this bright light and I began to pray. I said 'God you just gave me this daughter, and why would you leave her without a mother?'"

She woke up at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center and heard God calling. Unable to open a can of soda and barely able to walk, she fought her way back and into the classroom. "When I started TCC I didn't have my speech. I just sat in the back of the class and listened," she remembered.

Her family sacrificed too. Son TJ said they gave up cable sports and, "We sometimes went to the Y after school, but we had to give that up too."

When they watched her walk across the stage in her nursing hat and uniform, all that sacrifice melted away. Her proud family cheered as she received her pin, a symbol of hard work, faith, and for Shae, of promise.

"I promised, I kept it and I didn't stop," she beamed.