17 Years of Trauma Broke a Paramedic Until God Gave Him a New Life to Chase (With Jeremy Claridge)

Picture a man who has spent 17 years responding to emergencies, with his hands in other people's trauma day after day. Now picture that same man flying 150 miles an hour at five feet off the ground, watching the sun break through the clouds over a quiet field. Then picture him walking through his neighborhood late at night, asking God out loud what he is supposed to do as a brand-new bishop. Jeremy Claridge has lived all three of those scenes. His life is proof that God does not waste our hardest seasons and that He is always working, even when we cannot see it.

In a recent episode of Why We Believe with host Nathan Gwilliam, Jeremy shares how PTSD, career upheaval, and a move to a town he had never visited became the very things God used to put him where he needed to be. What makes his story stand out is not just the dramatic pivot, but the quiet faith that carried him through every step.

A Testimony Set in Stone at Far West

Jeremy grew up farming and ranching in Southern Arizona with a large, faithful family. His parents were steady examples of service and belief in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But the moment his faith became fully his own came on his mission in Independence, Missouri.

He and his companion were driving to visit other missionaries and had to pass the Far West temple site. It sits in the middle of rural Missouri with almost nothing around it. They pulled up as the only car in the lot, walked down a few steps into the site, and saw the cornerstones already set in glass at the four corners of the future temple.

Jeremy describes being overwhelmed by the Spirit in a way he had never experienced before or since. In that moment, everything made sense. He received a clear impression that it was all true, that what he was doing as a missionary was right, and that his faith in Jesus Christ was well placed. That experience became the anchor for every decision that followed.

When Trauma Nearly Won

After his mission, Jeremy built a career as a paramedic and spent 17 years in the EMS field. He loved the work and the people he served alongside, including his older brother. But years of constant exposure to other people's worst moments took a toll he did not fully understand until it was almost too late.

He began pulling away at home. He was physically present but mentally absent. He retreated to his man cave and left his wife and family to wonder what was happening. It took a close friend and work partner to recognize the signs and step in. Jeremy was eventually diagnosed with a severe case of PTSD.

At his lowest point, he found himself questioning for the first time how much he wanted to continue. But God heard his prayers, and his wife's many prayers as well. He was connected with a doctor who specializes in PTSD among first responders and military personnel, and the way that appointment came together was, in Jeremy's words, nothing short of a miracle. That experience taught him several things about faith and recovery:

• God is aware of us even when we feel completely alone.

• Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but an act of trust.

• Our hardest seasons can become the foundation for something we never expected.

• The people God places in our path, a friend, a doctor, a spouse, are rarely there by accident.

Following God to an Unknown Town

When Jeremy met with his doctor for the first time, she told him her job was to get him back on the front lines. He told her he was not going back. He was going to be a crop duster. It was something he had wanted to do since he was a kid, and he finally felt it was time.

His wife had already opened the door months earlier when she crawled into bed one night and told him she was willing to move wherever he needed to fly. That was a major step for a woman who lived a mile away from her parents. But the impression was clear, and she trusted it.

Jeremy trained in Texas for seven weeks, flew his first season in Illinois, and then he and his wife drove across Idaho looking for a place to land. Rexburg was the last town they visited. Driving down Main Street, they looked at each other at the same time and both knew this was the place. They moved with no job, no connections, and no flying contract. Within weeks, they had franchised their favorite Hawaiian restaurant and brought Kainoa's to Rexburg. By the following spring, a pilot in nearby St. Anthony needed help, and Jeremy had his flying job.

Just Love the People

Not long after settling in Rexburg, Jeremy was called to serve as bishop of a new ward. He did not see it coming and did not feel prepared. The calling felt like it belonged to someone wiser, someone more spiritual. Three weeks in, stressed and unsure, he walked out his front door late at night and started pacing the neighborhood.

He asked God out loud to help him know what to do. The answer came almost audibly: just love the people. Jeremy says he forgets plenty of the administrative details, but that one instruction was enough. Through sitting with people in their hardest moments, he began to see them the way he believes Heavenly Father and the Savior see them. They do not want to punish us. They want to love us.

His two careers reinforce that same lesson every day. At the restaurant, he works alongside his family and young employees who are far away from home. Many of them are returned missionaries or preparing for missions, and they know who Jeremy is and what he stands for. More counseling sessions and blessings than he can count have happened in that restaurant office. In the cockpit of his crop duster, flying low and slow over quiet fields, he has had some of his most spiritual moments, feeling God's presence in the beauty of a sunrise and knowing that the dream God helped him achieve was always part of the plan.

Trust the Next Step

Jeremy Claridge's journey reveals that God does not ask us to see the full picture before we move. He asks us to take the next step. A paramedic walks into a doctor's office. A family drives down a Main Street in a town they have never visited. A bishop walks out his front door at midnight. Each step seemed small in the moment. Together, they built a life that only God could have designed.

Consider what step God might be asking you to take right now. Jeremy's life shows that you do not need to know all the whys and hows. You just need to know that Heavenly Father loves you and has given you some direction, and then follow it. As Jeremy puts it, God is a more patient parent than any of us. He lets us try again and again, as many times as it takes.

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