Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Benjamin Phelps, a survivor of the Sept. 28 attack on a Church of Jesus Christ meetinghouse, was discharged from the hospital on Friday.
- Phelps endured 25 surgeries and credits his faith and community support for his recovery.
- The Phelps family expressed their gratitude and planned to cherish the upcoming holiday season.
GRAND BLANC, Mich. — Nearly 10 weeks after a mass shooting and fire at a Church of Jesus Christ meetinghouse killed four people and injured eight, one of the wounded finally came home from the hospital.
Benjamin Phelps was discharged on Friday to the cheers of family, friends and ward members after being shot in the abdomen during the Sept. 28 attack and enduring 25 subsequent surgeries.
"About 3 or 4 in the morning, you're in pain, you're feeling sick — there's some pretty dark times, and so you really had to grab onto something," Phelps said Monday during an interview with KSL.
Phelps described a recovery journey filled with determination and faith in which he accepted every prayer and blessing that was offered.
"I really had to start bearing down upon what I believed in, and I really had to focus and buckle down," Phelps said. "When those actions and that faith combine, magic and miracles happen that otherwise won't."
Phelps' son was also wounded by shrapnel during the attack, but the family said the boy was back playing with his siblings the next day.
The emotional recovery was likely to take much longer, acknowledged Phelps' wife, Danalee.
Phelps turned emotional talking about the role his wife played in his recovery.
"We would try to focus on the positive, and my wife was wonderful coming and spending time with me and telling me all the things and trying to keep me included," he said. "I tried to hold onto those."
Phelps expressed gratitude to his friends, church members and others in the community for the support and love they showed during his journey, and he said the couple hoped to "pay it forward and back" in the future.
The couple said they would cherish the upcoming holiday season.
"This Christmas season will be a different one because of how much we value the time we have together as a family," Phelps said. "It is truly a blessing."
What happened in September was painful and difficult to put into words.
"It is a traumatic story, it is a devastating story," Danalee Phelps said.
Benjamin Phelps said he chooses to reflect on how the community came together.
"Instead of it being remembered, you know, 'This was such a terrible incident,' I want it to be remembered more (for) what people have bonded together to do in response to the evils that do happen around us," Phelps said. "Good will overcome evil, and we'll crush and outweigh that evil in all accounts."
Family members said Phelps still faced a long road to recovery. As of this week, a GoFundMe* account set up to help had raised more than $219,000 of a $250,000 goal.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
