Too Close for Comfort

Aaron Erhardt

Oct 20, 2026

Have you ever had a near-death experience? A situation where something happened that was “too close for comfort” and could have easily cost your life? In December 1753, George Washington and a companion were taking a raft across the Allegeheny River when he fell overboard. Thankfully his friend was able to save him. Later that same month, Washington was shot at by an Indian (who was less than 15 paces away) but it missed. Then, in 1755, Washington was fighting in the Ohio River Valley, when he had four bullets rip through his coat and two horses shot beneath him, yet he was unharmed.

In July 1864, Abraham Lincoln accompanied some of his troops to the Battle of Fort Stevens, when a Confederate sniper fired a shot at him, missing by just a few feet. The next month, Lincoln was travelling on horseback alone to a residence 3 miles from the White House (called Soldiers Home) when a sniper fired at him from less than 50 yards away hitting the crown of his hat.

In March 1981, Ronald Reagan was shot at as he was leaving a Washington hotel. One of the bullets ricocheted off the Presidential limo and struck him, puncturing a lung which resulted in serious internal bleeding though he survived.

In July 2024, Donald Trump had several shots fired at him by a would-be assassin on a nearby rooftop. One of the bullets skimmed his ear. Ironically, that was the same county where Washington was nearly assassinated about 271 years earlier.

A lesser-known person to survive a near-death experience was Elora. In 2003, her mother Andrea (who was just 24-years old and unmarried) picked up the phone and called a medical clinic to schedule an abortion. She felt helpless and desperate, and thought that terminating her pregnancy was the only option. Thankfully, the clinic she called was a church-based organization that offers counseling and ultrasounds for pregnant women, and they encouraged her to get an ultrasound. That changed everything. Her story was featured in a 2005 New York Times article, where Andrea details just how close she came to killing her precious baby. She then said, “When I had the sonogram and heard the heartbeat — and for me a heartbeat symbolizes life — after that there was no way I could do it.” The article adds that baby Elora was playing at her feet during the interview.

Abortion is murder. It robs a child of his life and God of His glory. Remember that as you go to the polls next month. Be sure to vote Christian values and support only pro-life candidates!