Wade Berzas, the sole survivor of the horrific plane crash that occurred 48 seconds after departing the Lafayette airport on December 28, 2019, en route to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss how the incident changed his life forever. He now lives his life "48 seconds at a time."

Wade, still a young man of 39, is happily married with six children from his and his wife's prior marriages, with two little ones from their union. He recounts how the day of the crash was just another normal day. "My mom was coming over the next day and we had brisket marinating...I had spent the prior day setting my goals for the upcoming year. I was going on a flight with my best friends to do something we had always talked about, an opportunity to see LSU play a road game. Friends were waiting for us there. Everyone was giving me a hard time because I forgot the playing cards."

"The whole flight lasted 48 seconds. Life flipped on top of its head. I was completely alone, strapped into my seat, burned all over my body, trying to figure out how I would get out. You quickly separate what's important from what's not. I called my wife from the field so I could get to her first so she didn't learn from social media what had happened. I wanted her to hear my voice so I could tell her, 'Don't worry. I'll be fine."

A lot of people have put "their human minds" to work trying to figure out how Wade survived. Wade believes it is impossible to understand from a human level. " God just had a different plan for me that day. For those who believe, God worked six miracles: I'm still here and he kept me here for the purpose of doing more work. Five people got to see their Maker that day."

Wade was always the guy who read the safety briefings when he worked offshore. He remembers getting out of his seatbelt which kept him in place as he hung upside down. He was able to exit the wreckage and two heroic bystanders helped him as he walked away and then collapsed in the field. Over 75% of his body was burned. He didn't want his wife to learn of the accident from social media, so he called her before he got into the ambulance so that she could hear his voice and he could tell her, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

The odds were against Wade, yet he described the peace that washed over him as he realized he was going to be fine. Even with the greater chance he would not make it than survive, he never wanted people to give up on him. Wade was expected to be in the hospital for at least three months. He was put into a medical coma to help his body rest as it fought against invasive germs and loss of fluids, all due to the loss of his skin, the body's biggest organ.

Joey Barrios, MD, Burn Surgeon at Our Lady of Lourdes, was Wade's doctor; to date, Wade has had 26 surgeries, initially at the rate of twice a week, all of which have been 100% successful. Typically, skin grafting surgeries have a great probability of needing to be redone. He left the hospital after 52 days, far ahead of schedule. With hundreds of thousands of people praying for Wade's successful recovery, it is now easy to understand the power of prayer.

Wade realized that he had to surrender the outcome of his accident to God. "You don't have to go through a plane crash to find yourself in situations where you feel you can't get through it. When you embrace the suffering, with grace and commitment to get to the other side, you can accomplish things you never imagined possible." He made that commitment one minute at a time, one day at a time.

A positive mindset was critical in Wade's recovery, as it is for all of us going through trying times. He stayed positive as much as possible, allowed no negativity in his hospital room,