Christopher Holzman, left, takes a “selfie” photo in the hospital with his brother Thomas after an accident that left him in a coma for more than two weeks in 2021.
By Dawn Prosser
For The Catholic Messenger
ORANGE CITY, Iowa — Late evening Dec. 4, 2021, Benedictine College sophomore Christopher Holzman and his friends were going to take one last ride on their longboards before calling it a night. The Gehlen Catholic alumnus took a photo at the top of the steep hill because “the sky looks very cool.” Four years later, he still doesn’t remember what happened next.
No one saw him fall off of the board because it was dark, his friends found him unresponsive at the bottom of the hill and called 911. Holzman was transported to the hospital in Atchison, Kansas, with two temporal bone fractures and traumatic brain injury. His friends called Holzman’s parents, Kevin and Mary, with the devastating news.
“It’s the bone around your ear on the skull. It’s one of the hardest bones to break — you have to hit things just right … Two temporal bone fractures typically only happen in a car accident,” Holzman said, noting he learned months later that statistically he had only a 10% chance of survival from the injuries he sustained.
In the hospital, he was in a coma/medically sedated for 2½ weeks after the accident. Holzman learned that his father, who will be ordained a permanent deacon in August 2026, was praying to Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, for his intercession.
“He said he prayed that prayer 100 times a day,” Holzman said, noting at first, his survival was not certain. “We didn’t know exactly how my life would be different with the brain injury.”
He wasn’t sure if his future was being bedridden in a care facility or permanently using a walker or living with some other impediment to his mobility.
The sophomore was discharged Dec. 28, preparing to spend his spring semester recovering at his parents’ home in Orange City. The 19-year-old had several months of physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy ahead of him. He lost his hearing from the injuries and now uses two cochlear implants to hear.
The college student only missed one semester of school to recover. Once back on campus he used a scooter for a short time to navigate the college campus.
“Surviving was miraculous itself but also being able to finish school and still be able to live independently,” he said.
Holzman’s story was featured in a Knights of Columbus Supreme Council video “Faith, Recovery and Leadership” where he credits his faith and the Knights’ founder for his unexpected survival and recovery. (The video was released Nov. 20, 2025, and has been viewed more than 18,000 times on YouTube.)
“I firmly believe my recovery and where I’m at now is all glory to God — but McGivney was right there,” he said.
Physical therapist Dan Foreman, left, and Christopher Holzman pose on Holzman’s last day of physical therapy on June 2, 2022.
Young Knight
Having joined the Knights as a high schooler in 2019, Holzman became familiar with McGivney and the KC’s initiative to have their founder canonized. The teen had transferred to the Benedictine KC council and was looking forward to continuing his work with the KCs upon his return to the Atchison campus.
“I had taken an officer position and wanted to begin doing more things with it and then my accident happened,” Holzman explained. “I was spending my recovery time working on things for next year. Somehow, everyone trusted me to elect me Grand Knight for the following year.”
Returning to campus in the fall of 2022, he was ready to rejoin the campus community and to lead his KC council.
Holzman — along with his brother Tom — traveled to New Haven, Connecticut, for the first Knights College Council Conference that fall, where Holzman gave a presentation about his experience. He said the experience at the conference solidified his belief that he was called to be a Knight.
While in Connecticut, Holzman and his brother met with Brian Caulfield, the vice postulator for the sainthood cause of Blessed McGivney. Holzman submitted his testimony about his accident for the cause.
Closer connection
Holzman said his time in New Haven deepened his devotion to Blessed McGivney and the priest’s vision of service for the Knights of Columbus.
“From the time I was out there, I really began to feel connected to McGivney in different ways, but also in that this is someone I feel a personal connection with. Someone who sees the needs of his time and always wants to find the solution,” Holzman said, noting he also likes to consider how he can address the needs around him. “It’s cool to think of the impact he could have and I was trying to live up to that legacy.”
He said he also began to pray every night for McGivney’s intercession for his continued healing and for his brother Knights who may be in need.
More leadership
Holzman continued his leadership in the college Knights council, serving as Grand Knight and recruiting other young men to the Knights, setting records for recruitment. Holzman graduated from Benedictine in December 2024 with a degree in theology, evangelization and catechesis with an emphasis in youth ministry and minor in philosophy.
He now lives in Orange City, is a member of St. Donatus Parish and works for EZ Liner Arrow but hasn’t ruled out graduate school or the seminary. He assists the parish’s youth ministry.
Holzman transferred his KC membership from the Benedictine College council. Last summer, he was asked to take on a new responsibility with the Knights.The district deputy said he looks forward to growing councils in his district and perhaps work with Iowa college councils.
Evangelizing
Holzman is passionate about sharing his story, whether in front of a group or one-on-one. Oftentimes, someone noticing his cochlear implants provides a lead-in to sharing his story and the power of prayer and faith.
“I told one of my friends that God didn’t give me my hearing back because there wouldn’t be anything to ask me about to lead into my talk to evangelize them,” he said with a laugh.
“The big thing I talk about is how I went to confession a day and a half before my accident. I went on Friday afternoon and (the accident) was on a Saturday night. Looking back, if I had died, I don’t know where I would have gone,” he said. “I wasn’t going out committing every mortal sin possible … but it really put me into perspective on earth. Now it makes me think before I do anything.”
He is concerned with the number of young people leaving the Church nationally and in the diocese. He hopes to somehow support them on a peer level, acknowledging that youth are discouraged that they “can’t put up the fight” against sin.
His miraculous survival from the traumatic brain injury and nearly full recovery has provided “a real big reality check” for the nearly 24-year-old.
“When I give my testimony, I say, if you close your eyes and imagine when you die, you’re thinking I will be in a hospital room, 80 years old. I’ve got my grandkids all around, that is such a blessing. It’s not how it is going to be for most of us, I would say. All of a sudden, it makes you start living with perspective. It puts it in this mindset that I want to live every day to the fullest. We’ve heard this all before, but I want to live to the fullest this day,” he said.
(Dawn Prosser is the director of communications for the Diocese of Sioux City.)
