Jacque Rainwater’s life was coming together almost ideally by February 1994.

The Vinemont native was the reigning Miss University of North Alabama in Florence. Graduation was coming at the end of the year and she was working toward the goal of teaching English in Japan once she left college.

Everything that was going so well came to a halt on Feb. 10 of that year, when an ice-laden oak tree limb came crashing through Rainwater’s car and pinned her to the floorboard on Walnut Street, just blocks from the UNA campus. Twice she went into cardiac arrest, but was revived.

Once she was freed from the car and admitted to a hospital, a neurosugeon told her mother, Susie Rainwater, that her daughter was in a coma — and was unlikely to live through the night.

But 31 days later, Rainwater awoke. Her struggle was tremendous to regain her health and dreams. She had suffered a broken neck, a fractured skull, punctured lungs, and injuries to her chest that had exposed her heart.

Despite the challenges, and against her doctor’s advice, Rainwater returned to college and graduated in 1997.

“When I awoke from the coma, I did not remember that my father had died, and I knew I had a mother, but I didn’t know her name. I had to begin re-learning everything,” Rainwater said. “I also knew I wanted to go back to college and was back in five months. I wasn’t ready, but I had to prove myself.”

Saturday, Rainwater is returning to Florence for a 25th Anniversary Celebration of Life event that focuses on how a tragedy changed her life and brought together many people through prayer, with a message of hope for others.

A longtime goal of publishing a book based on her experience was met recently with Rainwater’s “On a Limb and a Prayer.” The autobiography details her accident, the recovery and the determination and faith that brought her back.

“‘Why’ is the question we always ask. Why would God allow this?,” Rainwater said. “I think God knew I would give Him the credit and the glory. It’s what you do with it after it happens.”

Rainwater said she will make a few remarks at the anniversary event, but mostly it will be a time to reunite with some of the people who were a big part of recovery, and to bring the message of hope that is now her focus.

“Writing was a time of healing for me,” Rainwater said. “Hope is something we have too little of, now. That’s what I want to bring out. The doctors said if I lived I would probably never be able to walk or speak again. But here I am. I am alive and they can’t shut me up. The spirit is alive and we have to grasp it and keep going.”

“On a Limb and Prayer” recounts the physical, mental and spiritual struggles following the accident and where life has brought Rainwater, including that she has realized the dream of teaching English for Japanese spouses tied to local industries.

Included in the back pages are a series of photos from her time at UNA and the accident. The book is $15.99 and available in Cullman at Yates-Chance Christian Bookstore and Deb’s Bookstore.

Rainwater is available to tell her story for local organizations or churches. Visit JacqueRainwater.com or write her at 1612 2nd Ave., PMB #190, Cullman, AL 35055.