Lone survivor of deadly plane crash finds faith

Wade Berzas, a member of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in Church Point, was one of six passengers aboard a private jet that took off from Lafayette Regional Airport headed for Atlanta around 9:20 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2019. 

“We were heading to the Peach Bowl to watch (No. 1) LSU play (No. 4) Oklahoma. Things were looking great,” Berzas said.

His fellow passengers and friends were giving him a hard time for forgetting his playing cards, Berzas was ready for the best day of his life as the plane ascended in takeoff. Forty-eight seconds later, those plans were shattered as the plane crashed near the U.S. Post Office on Feu Follet Road, killing five people. Berzas, whose body was almost 80% burned, was the lone survivor.

One of the redeeming values of the crash for Berzas was discovering God’s call to a deeper relationship. 

Berzas shared his story at the 50th anniversary of Court Regina Coeli #2063 of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas of St. Jude Church in Baton Rouge.

Berzas was a practicing Catholic but wasn’t serious about his faith. After he married his devoutly Catholic wife his faith took another step.

Berzas heard about the “That Man is You!” a national ministry that helps men to see God in the context of marriage and family life. He and a friend made the 45-minute early morning treks to TMIY! meetings in Lafayette before beginning a chapter in Church Point

“It really changed my faith life. It really changed my life, period. (I learned) about authentic male leadership and it introduced me to some amazing friends,” said Berzas. 

TMIY! also taught him the spiritual meaning of suffering.

“One of the most important things I learned was to suffer with joy as opposed to being a complainer,” he said. “They taught us to offer up our sufferings for other people as a prayer for other people. And to remember that there is a heaven and that suffering, as long as we carry it with the same joy Christ did, helps us to grow.

“And I never had any idea how impactful that was going to be.”

He said of his suffering during recovery, “It wasn’t something I carried with what the world would call joy. I mean, it was hell on Earth. But there was a closeness with Christ that came from it because I just continued to offer it up as often as I could for other people, and I felt that he was usually close and was there the whole time.”

Beraz’ sheer will and determination and the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people brought him through the painful recovery process.

“They expected that I would be in the hospital for about two to three months but amazingly, (recovery came) no doubt due to the prayers,” he said. “Our family was overwhelmed with all the support and love that was poured out. There Masses (celebrated) worldwide for me and of the victims (including in Rome). And we had more rosaries sent and prayed for us than we could count. It was amazing, and what happened is they expected me to be in the burn unit for about 90 days and after 52 days I actually left the hospital, way ahead of schedule.”

He added, “I was just getting ready to leave the burn unit to go to inpatient rehab and the doctor asked me, ‘How do you explain this?’ My recovery went almost perfectly. Everything that they would typically expect in burn patients to go wrong actually didn’t go wrong.

“I think it was the first time in my life that I ever truly understood the power of prayer.”

Berzas said one Sunday the Second Reading of the Mass was St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians about being torn between remaining in the body and his desire of living in heaven with Christ, but since God left him on Earth for the time being he would serve people.  

“That one resonated with me. Instead of asking ‘why’ much as I want to, maybe he left me here to do a little service for others,” said Berzas.

During one Mass not long after the accident OLOSH associate pastor Father Père Rozas’ homily message was that God gives gifts to everyone and that each of those gifts is equally special. But he doesn’t reveal how long each person is going to have those gifts.

“I’ve been through some serious tragedies in my life, one of the biggest ones being in my 20s we lost a son late in pregnancy,” Berzas said. “And I didn’t handle that one well. My faith wasn’t strong and instead of turning to God I turned away from God and I got angry. And it sent my life into a dark spiral into a time that I am not proud of.”

“The difference this time, since that day (in 2019) instead of getting angry with God, I try to turn to him and allow him to heal me instead of running away from him,” he added. “And one of the most powerful things I can say is it’s helped save me in the ability to just trust him and surrender.”

It’s difficult for Berzas to talk about the events of the crash but he shares his story because he finds that everyone suffers from a trauma or tragedy in their life. When they share their stories, he tells them what has helped him: lean on faith and discover God’s call for them.

“I’m not just the lone survivor of a plane crash,” he said. “I’m a son of God, and he’s already got my life figured out.

“I’m not special. He didn’t choose me because I was the best person on the plane, he didn’t choose me because I was the smartest guy on the plane, he didn’t choose me because I made the fewest mistakes. He’s just got a different plan and that’s why he’s God and we’re not.”