In 2013, Katie Lentz was 19 years old when a drunk driver slammed into her car as she headed down a cornfield-lined road in Missouri. For nearly an hour, Katie was pinned between her seat and the steering wheel, unable to move and struggling to breathe.
First responders tried to free Katie from her totaled car, but time was slipping away. The fire chief began to lose hope for a successful rescue and Katie began to accept that she might not make it out alive. Out loud, Katie mustered the strength to ask the first responders and everyone gathered around the wreckage to pray with her.
Just then, seemingly out of nowhere, a mysterious figure emerged and led the group in prayer. The man wore a black priest shirt with a white collar. "Amen," he said, before disappearing back into the crowd.
Katie survived that day. But when the crowd went to thank the mystery priest for his calming prayer, he was no where to be found. Dozens of photos of the wreck were taken that day, and he wasn't in a single picture.
Was this a priest… or an angel? Scroll down to find out…
19-year-old Katie Lentz was struck by a drunk driver in 2013. For an hour, emergency crew workers tried to free Katie from her crushed vehicle, but their tools weren't getting the job done fast enough.
Time was slipping away, and Katie realized she might die. She asked everyone around her to pray with her.
As a crowd began to gather around the wreckage, a mysterious figure emerged. The man wore a priest's shirt and began to lead the group in prayer. Just then, the rescue team was finally able to get their tools to do what they needed to do.
Katie was finally freed, then taken to the hospital where she recovered.
But just as suddenly as the priest appeared, he then vanished into thin air. When bystanders and rescue workers went to thank the priest for his "miracle prayer," he was gone. There were about 70 photos taken at the scene of the accident — but the man wasn't found in a single frame.
A composite sketch was drawn, but no one came forward. They claimed this was no man, but rather an angel.
As Katie's story began to make headlines, the mystery man finally revealed himself.
Father Patrick Dowling, who just so happened to be near the scene of the accident, had initially wanted to remain anonymous. He said he tried to avoid getting in the way of the struggling crew of first responders, and that he was only part of the answer to Katie's prayers.
Father Dowling says the crowd and their combined prayers, along with the tireless emergency workers, were the heroes that day.
On her 20th birthday, Katie received an incredible gift — a reunion with Father Dowling, her very own miracle worker.
