By Rita LeBleu |  Leesville Leader

In November 2000, DeQuincy Police Officer Randy Henry was called to a one-vehicle accident. The driver hit a high-powered utility pole.

“I don’t remember a lot about what happened,” he said. “I was unconscious for three days. My wife, Connie, and a few others have helped fill in some of the blanks.”

Henry was electrocuted.

“The current went through my head and out my feet,” he said.

His wife, Connie, found out that he had landed on his face in a ditch and overheard that he probably wouldn’t make the air flight to a Galveston hospital.

But he did. When he regained consciousness, the doctor tried to prepare him for the inevitable.

“I told him, I’m gonna be just fine,” Henry said.

The doctor applauded his optimism, but Henry could read between the lines.

“I told him, doctor, there’s something you don’t understand, and that’s the power of prayer,” Henry said.

He was in hospital for a week and had to live in Galveston the month after he was released for physical therapy visits three to four times a week. He had numerous surgeries and therapies. For instance, one surgery patched the hole in his skull without success. Another removed skull fragments. The most painful was the skull expander surgery and therapy. He was wheelchair bound. A straight speaker who is uncomfortable drawing attention to himself – but willing to talk about the incident in terms of what God has done and can do – Henry admitted there was a period when he suffered from depression. He said the depression eased significantly when members of his church, DeQuincy Church of Christ, began to visit and lift his spirits.

“I wanted to walk again,” Henry said. “One day I felt God was saying to me, Randy, I’ll do my part. But you have to do yours.”

That’s the day he took the first step, only one. Everyday thereafter, until he could walk, he added a step.

“I’m still not 100 percent,” he said. But I feel blessed beyond measure for what I can do. I’m loving every minute of it. I feel blessed because of how my family and the people of DeQuincy have blessed me. We had no income. I was accustomed to being the breadwinner and I had to depend on my wife. My wife is truly God-given. She was my hands, my eyes and my feet.”

Now Henry blesses others, especially the youth and seniors of DeQuincy. He will never be able to pass a physical and work as a DeQuincy Police Department officer, so he volunteers as a chaplain. He prays with prisoners who feel hopeless. He volunteers to pick up and drop off certain necessities to seniors who can’t do it. He volunteers at the elementary school, even purchased a flag for the school that he raises and lowers daily. The task gives him time to interact with students. He gets out of his vehicle to check on convenience store clerks. He says helping others brings him a deep sense of satisfaction, joy and that’s a blessing.

“He’s still pouring out his blessings,” Henry said. “He brought my oldest son home from Korea and as a chaplain I was able to officiate his wedding before he left.”

The Henrys have three sons. Prior to working for the DeQuincy Police Department, he worked for the fire department. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Army.

He said parents, the late Harry and Rose Ann Henry of Sulphur were community servants and fostered children. When one of his sons asked him what he’d do now that they both were gone, Henry told him, “I’m gonna live my life for Christ because I know one day I will be with them again.”

Henry was named the 2022 DeQuincy Chamber of Commerce Civic Service Award recipient at the DeQuincy Chamber of Commerce 75th Annual Banquet held Thursday, March 10.