His career almost came to a tragic end when he was
shot eight times at close range. Thanks to divine intervention, he's now
playing music set to a different tune.
Enjoying success, Stanley lived extravagantly, traveling the country with well-known musicians.
All of that changed the night of April 2, 2004.
One of the men then approached him.
"When he said, 'What are you doing out here,' I
said, 'I'm just chillin,'" Stanely recalled. "He said, 'Well, you gotta
roll out.' That's when he pulled out a gun from his jacket. He had a
leather jack on and a hoodie and he pulled it out and pointed at me,
shot it one time."
After falling to the ground, he was shot seven more times -- up close.
'I Saw an Angel'
"When I first saw the flash I didn't know I got
shot," Stanley said. "I just remember hitting the ground and then when
he stood over top of me that's when I saw an angel get in front of me.
And I remember it because I didn't have time to think about that. It was
an instantaneous thing."
He continued to describe what he saw.
"It was probably -- I mean I'm 6 foot 7 -- and the
angel was probably like 7-foot something," he said. "It was just a
transparent figure. I couldn't tell if it was a male or female. I didn't
see wings or anything like that. I saw it was clear, transparent and it
was in front of me."
"I knew it was an angel just because the
protection," he continued. "It got into a position like this [arms
crossed] in front of me and I remember seeing that."
The men stood over Stanley, laughing, thinking they had just killed him.
Still barely alive, he managed to dial 911. By the time paramedics arrived, they offered little hope he would survive.
"I was like 'God help me. Help me make it,'" Stanley
recalled. "I just remember trying to stay awake. I thought that would
be the key."
"It was like a movie. You see that stuff in a movie.
You see the light up. You see people see their life flashing before
their eyes. It was like that for me except that I started thinking what
would happen if I did die. And I was like nobody's going to know what
happened to me," he said.
At the hospital, Stanley went immediately into surgery where he recalled seeing a familiar face.
"Saw a lot of doctors and nurses kind of standing
and I remember looking as I'm getting ready for surgery, I remember
looking and seeing the same angel that was on the street and the angel
was just kind of like arms crossed... It didn't do anything or say
anything. It was kind of like nodding its head," he said.
Doctors faced a major challenge while operating.
"I had my colon reattached, half my stomach got
removed, my spleen got removed completely, half of my pancreas," Stanley
told CBN News. "I had some very intensive surgery. There are certain
things about my body that are not the same."
That meant months in rehab, including learning to
walk again. Another major change -- nerve damage in his right arm left
him without feeling in his hand.
Miraculous Recovery
Doctors told Stanley his piano playing days were over. But he proved them wrong, making it back to touring within months.
The amazing recovery came with a price, however, as
he popped pain killers for relief. Thankful to be alive, his
relationship with God was still shallow.
Five years later, he hit rock bottom, struggling with drug addiction and depression.
"I got to a point where in desperation I was like,
'I can't do this anymore.' And that's when everything changed for me as
far as me pursuing, saying, 'I need Jesus.' Took me a long time to get
there," Stanley said.
Police later told him that a gang initiation led to
his shooting. They caught the men but witnesses wouldn't testify against
them, allowing them to go free.
Today, Stanley travels the world sharing his story.
He says his love of music is now part of his life's mission, which
includes talking with youth groups and high school students.
"It's not really about the music," he explained.
"It's more about what God's done in my life and I aim to make him famous
at everything I do and to show his glory."
Credits: www.cbn.com
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