Miracle Story Synopsis and Medical Evaluation/Validation for Bruce Van Natta, “Saved By Angels” and
“A Miraculous Life”
Name/Age:
Bruce Van Natta
(age 44)
Immediate family: Lori, (wife), + 4 children – (a daughter 16, 15 year old twin boys and an 13 year old daughter)
Contact Information: 230 State Highway 66
Rudolph, WI 54475
Hm: 715-421-1551. Cell: 715-213-6116.
vannatta@wctc.net
www.sweetbreadministries.com
Story Summary: When the logging truck Bruce was working on fell off the jack across his midsection
crushing him under the 10,000 pound axle, no one thought he would live. As Bruce’s spirit hovered above the
scene, he saw 2 angels, one on each side of him, with their arms under the truck, keeping his body alive. Two
hours and 40 minutes later, he was finally taken into surgery where they discovered incredible damage. No one
could understand how he was still alive. But, Bruce knew that angels had saved his life. Then God later
performed another miracle in that a large portion of his small intestine that had been removed, grew back.
Story (Terms highlighted are defined in the medical evaluation section)
On November 16, 2006, Bruce, a self-employed diesel mechanic, rolled underneath the front of a semi truck to
check for a leak. All of a sudden, the truck fell off the jack. The front axle crushed Bruce against the concrete
floor acting like a blunt guillotine across his midsection, compressing that area to less than an inch thick on his
left side to a few inches thick on his right side, nearly cutting him in two. The vibrations from the running
engine pulsed excruciating pain through his body. He begged for the driver to “turn it off!” Blood began
oozing out of his mouth as he tried to talk. He saw the driver reposition the jack and lift the truck up off him.
Amazingly, he was able to reach back and grab the bumper and pull himself enough to get his head out from
under the truck. When his heart quit beating his spirit left his body and he began to watch the scene unfold from
10-15 feet in the air. He could see that his eyes were closed and he was not responding. The driver of the truck
was kneeling beside him, crying and patting his head. But what Bruce saw on each side of his still, limp body
held his attention. He saw twin angels! They were on their knees, facing the front of the truck and his body.
Each angel had positioned his hands on the area where Bruce was crushed in half. They were about 7-8 feet tall
with very broad shoulders and looked extremely muscular. There were no wings, but they had ringlets of long
blond hair that fell half way down their backs. They wore white colored robes and had a yellowish light
surrounding each one of them. The robe fabric was very unusual, woven with a miniature rope, making the
robes appear very strong and durable. He watched from above as the volunteer fire department arrived and heard
a few members say that he was not going to make it. One first responder patted his face and kept loudly calling
to him, telling him to open his eyes. In a flash he was no longer watching from above, but was back inside his
body. The first responder told him to try to keep his eyes open, but it was hard to. When he did close his eyes
the incredible pain would stop and he could feel himself begin to go in a tunnel towards a bright light. The first
responder told him he was going to have to fight for his life and then asked him what he had to fight for. He
decided to fight for his wife and children and fought to keep his eyes open. He looked for the angels, but could
no longer see them with his fleshly eyes. He was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and then flown to
the state’s largest trauma center. Unable to speak or move, he continued to focus on keeping his eyes open. As
they did a scan of his whole body, his blood pressure ‘bottomed out’. He was pulled from the scanner and
rushed to the operating room.
When they opened him up, they saw what looked like mush. Sections of small intestine were pulverized. They
also found the superior mesenteric artery and vein completely severed and separated as well as other critical
blood vessels that were transected and bleeding. They worked on the blood vessels and arteries, removing the
badly injured ones and suctioning out at least 3 quarts of blood. They removed the badly damaged and dead
sections of intestine. At this point, he was left with only approximately 100 centimeters of small intestine. His
abdomen had swelled so badly from all the trauma, that they could not close him up. They gave him massive
blood transfusions (as he had bled out most of his blood) and then took him back to the room to see if he would
live for the next 6-8 hours. If he did, they would go back in the next day and begin the rest of the repair work.
His broken ribs, fractured vertebrae and damaged pancreas and spleen took a back seat while they worked to
deal with more life threatening problems. The next day, he was taken back to surgery and the other repairs
began. It would be 5 days and a 3rd surgery before they could close his abdomen, (the first time.)
Over the next year he was in and out of the hospital several times. A 4th surgery in February, 2007 removed
another section of small intestine. Bruce had to be fed through a special IV for a time, as the drastically reduced
amount of small intestine was not enough to properly absorb nutrients. This life threatening condition is called
short bowel syndrome. By definition, this condition exists when there is 25% or less of the small intestine.
Bruce ended up approx. 17% and the most critical part was gone. His weight went from over 180 lbs to 126 lbs
in just 3 months.
After the 4th operation in February, Bruce Carlson, a man from New York heard about the situation and was led
by the Lord to go and pray for Bruce. He prayed that the small intestine would supernaturally grow in length in
the name of Jesus. As he prayed, Bruce felt something wiggle in his abdomen. Several months later, in June,
2007, a scan revealed that Bruce now had approximately 1/2 of his small intestine back. In January 2009 the
senior Radiologist reviewed the results at Bruce’s request and confirmed that he does indeed have
approximately 300 cm or roughly half of his small intestine. (Bruce now weighs 170 lbs & is eating normally.)
Note from Dr. A.T., Senior Radiologist…. January 8, 2009
Bruce,
Good talking with you today. Hang in there, you have come a long way. As we spoke about today, I looked over the small bowel series
that I did from June 18th, 2007. As I mentioned , the small bowel is so circuitous that it can't be measured with a ruler. But as I look at
the small bowel remaining, I think you have about one half of the normal length remaining. If the small bowel is thought to be
anywhere from 16 to 22 feet, I am going to make the conversion into cm's easier by estimating some things. As we discussed if
approximately half of the small bowel could be 9 feet, and there are approximately 3 feet to a meter (a meter is really 39 inches, not
36) then the amount of small bowel in cm's is about 300 cm's.
It was a hard road and the incredibly talented surgical team that God assembled to deal with all the damage were
handed a huge task. But Bruce knew that God had preserved his life for a reason. Months of surgeries and
problems brought him closer to the Lord and were a launching pad for going into full time ministry – something
God had already called him to, but he ignored. In July of 2008 he released his first book, “Saved By Angels”,
and in 2013 he released the second full book “A Miraculous Life”. Doctors have declared him a miracle and
cannot find another person in the world who has lived with the same injuries. Bruce told his doctors that he
knew why he was alive, God stepped in and saved his life twice, so that he could tell others how real and loving
God is!
Media Notes
Bruce has been a guest on over 100 talk radio shows and over 30 TV shows with several being nationally
syndicated. Here is a small sample:
 “The History Chanel” just finished taping Bruce’s story for an upcoming series based on the biggest
verified miracles they could find in the world.
 The “700 Club” did a feature story on Bruce that has been re-aired several times and was chosen as one
of their “Top Ten” supernatural stories ever.
 Sid Roth's TV show “It's Supernatural”. Bruce's appearance on “It's Supernatural” had very high
viewer response and also was re-aired at times.
 “It's a New Day” TV show of Canada found this story so compelling they did a 5 day series on it.
 “The Harvest Show” a TV show that is part of the late Dr. Lester Sumrall’s ministry had Bruce as a
guest on two separate occasions.
 "100 Huntley Street" TV show had Bruce as a guest as well as the "Nite Lite" TV show also taped at
the Crossroads studio.
 “TBN” of Honolulu did a show on Bruce’s testimony.
 "Guideposts" magazine used Bruce's story as a feature article for a Christmas issue.
 “Charisma” magazine has covered the story in 2 separate issues.
 As well as many, many, more TV, radio, and print outlets
The ministry is starting to explode as God has been doing miracles in people’s lives as they read the books or
come to his events. You can view or listen to these interviews and get more info at his website,
sweetbreadministries.com. Both books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
Medical evaluation per Hospital records, Doctor reports, and pertinent studies
I. Part of Bruce’s miracles is that he did not completely bleed to death. Statistically, Bruce should not have lived.
Superior Mesentery Artery injuries are considered rare, but are often lethal and incur very high mortality
rates. Having a major abdominal artery (superior mesenteric artery) AND a major abdominal vein (superior
mesenteric vein) totally severed -as well as numerous other blood vessels damaged and bleeding into the
abdomen - is a death sentence! (trauma operative note, Nov. 16, 2006, #3, #4; 2nd paragraph under ‘description of procedure’;
trauma operative note, Nov. 17, 2006, indications)
1. From the time of the accident until the time they realized what was happening internally and took Bruce to
surgery, 2 hours and 40 minutes elapsed.* With superior mesenteric artery and/or vein hemorrhages, patients usually
die before they ever arrive in the emergency room – usually bleeding to death approximately 10 minutes after the
injury.
2. In a study by the Department of Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles,
2001, they identified independent risk factors for mortality where there is only a superior mesenteric artery
injury. They concluded that superior mesenteric artery injuries are highly lethal.
The above study also accessed mortality percentages based on the number of vessels damaged:
If 2 vessels are damaged, the mortality is 60%;
3 vessels, 73%,
4 or more vessels-100%.
Bruce had more than 4 vessels damaged and bleeding freely into his abdomen.
B. In looking at trauma evaluation scoring, there are several sets of values used to determine severity: Fullen’s
Anatomic Zone and Ischemia Grade and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma –Organ Injury Scale
(AAST-OIS)
Fullen’s anatomic Zone (referring to the area or zone of the body): on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the most
critical, he was at least a 2 possibly a 1
2. AAST-OIS grade: on a scale of 1-5, (5 being the worst), he was a 5
C. When they opened him up, there was 1500 ml. of blood pooled in his abdomen. He lost at least that much more
in surgery. (Depending on how they counted estimated blood loss in surgery, the total loss could have been 3000 – 4500
ml. or 6-9 units)The average adult has approximately 8-10 units of blood and he was given a total of 18 units!
D. Other very high mortality factors (all of which describe Bruce’s conditions): high number of transfusions
required (18 units of varying blood products and amounts), acidosis (the ph balance of the body is too acidic), dysrhythmia
(Irregular heart beat)
II. The impact had completely severed, chopped and pulverized his small intestine. All of this had to be removed and the
remaining pieces put together.
III. The Surgery Notes state that all of Bruce’s small intestines had to be removed except for approximately
100 centimeters of jejunum and ileum plus a little duodenum. (The normal small intestine is about 600 cm). After a 4th
surgery removing an additional 5 cm, there was now approximately 95 cm. However, a June 2007 scan revealed that
Bruce had an increase in the amount of his small intestine. In Jan., 2009, the Senior Radiologist reviewed this at Bruce’s
request and confirmed that he does indeed now have approximately 300 cm. (see above note from the radiologist.)
Size of average Adult Small Intestine = approximately 6 meters (600 cm) = 19-20 feet
After surgery Bruce = 100 cm or 3.3 feet or 39 inches
After prayer and 6/18/07 test = 300 cm or 9 feet
2. Short Bowel Syndrome: The major consequence of intestinal resection is the loss of absorptive surface area
in the small intestine. In adults, the removal of 40% to 50% of the total length of the small intestine is usually well tolerated
(leaving 50-60%). If the removal involves 50-75% of the small intestine, a special diet and nutritional supplements, along
with medication to enhance intestinal absorption are usually required. (This leaves a functioning amount of 25-50% of
small intestine). But, when more than 75% of the small intestine is removed, patients often require prolonged IV nutrition
(TPN). TPN is a way of providing nutrition intravenously to a patient who cannot tolerate food orally. The amount of
intestine left as well as the part of the small intestine left is very critical. For Bruce, the most critical part in proper
absorption was removed… the ileum. (They removed from the mid-jejunum to the terminal ileum as well as part of the
duodenum. See below.
Timeline
*Accident occurred at 18:15 on 11/16/06
*911 called at 18:19
*Med Flight arrived at the University of Wisconsin Hospital at 19:47
(When they arrived at the hospital, his eyes were open and he nodded to questions. They thought he
was doing better than he really was. When they were in the process of doing CT scans, his blood pressure
bottomed out and they rushed him to surgery.)
*In surgery at 20:50
11-16-06: Date of injury and 1st surgery – repaired blood vessels and removed all but a little over 100 cm of the
small intestine (leaving a small portion of the duodenum, 75cm of jejunum and 25 cm of the ileum left).
11-17-06: 2nd surgery: finished repair and reconstruction of the intestines. They were unable to close the
abdomen completely due to swelling.
11-21-06: 3rd surgery: Put in a feeding tube and closed abdomen. Second part of the duodenum and the
jejunum were anastamosed – that means they were connected together.
11-22-06: got pneumonia and had to have lungs cleared through a bronchoscopy- going into his lungs and taking
out the fluid
12-06: had a duodenal leak where 2 pieces had been stapled together, and also developed a pancreatic cyst
1-2-07: admitted with fever and infection of a special IV line (PICC line) going into a major blood vessel of the
heart
1-19-07: fever, intestinal blockage
2-5-07:
4th surgery: Had to cut out another 5 cm of intestine due to a constricture or blockage caused by the
squeezing off of the opening.
6-18-07: small bowel x-ray. Showed an increase in intestinal length. This is the one referred to by the radiologist
in the note in the story summary.
11-29-07: 5th surgery: had gallbladder removed and a hernia repaired. Had to fix the 10th rib/remove part of 9th