When Sheryl Lee Ralph Looks at Her Son — Who Nearly Died 10 Years Ago — She Knows 'What a Miracle Looks Like' (Exclusive)

Sheryl Lee Ralph has certainly been tested as a mother over the years.

In 2013, the Abbott Elementary star's son Etienne was involved in two terrible incidents: a car accident, and a mugging where he was shot three times — twice in his leg and once where a bullet grazed his forehead.

Those scary moments were extremely trying for Ralph, 67, as she tells PEOPLE, "There are moments in your children's lives that will bring you to your knees."

Ralph, who is currently promoting a partnership with MadeGood and its back-to-school campaign to donate money to teachers across North America, adds: "Sometimes in exhaustion. God's willing, it is in prayer. People talk about testimony. The test has become a testimony. The pain has brought him through with greater purpose. And through his own experiences in life, he is able to be of better help and service to others."

Etienne's accidents paved the way to the meaningful work he's doing now as CEO and founder of WalkGood, an organization in Los Angeles dedicated to bringing people from "all walks of life" together through the arts, health and wellness.

"Through everything my son has gone through, every time I see him I know what a miracle looks like," Ralph continued. "When I see my son with RunGood, and they do the running through LA, I know how close he came to losing that leg. When I look at that scar, I know how close he came to losing his life."

Etienne, for his part, reflected on those past experiences on social media in July.

“I just want to hop on here and let everybody know that I’m okay, and that [those incidents] happened 9, 10 years ago,” Etienne said in a video. “Two very separate situations that happened. They did not happen at the same time, and they didn’t happen recently, either. But I say all that to say that those experiences happened, and it led me to what I’m doing right now with WalkGood.”

Later in the clip, Etienne showed off WalkGood’s new creative space in Los Angeles centered around “community healing” and “community building.”

Ralph shares Etienne and her daughter Ivy-Victoria (who also goes by "Coco"), 28, with ex-husband Eric Maurice, whom she divorced in 2001. The WalkGood CEO proposed to Stephanie Wash, his longtime girlfriend and a journalist at ABC News, in New York City in early July.

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"I am so thankful to God and Goddess that he's here and I get to love him," the actress added. "And now he's got an incredible partner, they're engaged and she's beautiful and smart and I'm like, 'Thank you, God. Thank you, God.'"