When my 17 year old daughter was in high school, her boyfriend and a good friend of theirs hung out everyday.  The three of them were very close.  When their friend got a three-wheeler, his parents would take their boys to the sand dunes at the Oregon coast.  One summer weekend while there, he suffered a severe accident.  His condition was so bad he had to be lifted and flown to the Eugene hospital because it was the closest one with the medical treatment he needed.

My daughter and her boyfriend had heard about the tragic news late that evening and were crying while telling me what happened.  Early the next morning her boyfriend drove them up to Eugene, and every morning thereafter for over a week.  Every day she would return home late in the afternoon with tears.  Her fear for his life had deeply saddened her.

She told me the boy was in a coma because he had a blood clot, and his brain was swollen.  The doctors were hoping to get the swelling to go down so they could do surgery, but until then they couldn’t do anything to help him, the risk was too dangerous.  So, they were just treating him with medication and watching him carefully.  Each day my daughter and her boyfriend made the two-hour drive to and fro to Eugene just to sit by his side.  My daughter said the boys mother was there day and night, and she expressed how heartbreaking it was to see her watching her son slowly die. The doctors had told her after so many days, with no positive results, that they didn't expect him to live, and if he did, he would most probably be brain dead.  They also said that if he did come out of the coma, they couldn’t be sure how he would function.  Their main concern was keeping the blood clot from bursting, but instead of the swelling decreasing, it continued to slowly increase.

Every day I saw the fear and sadness in my daughter’s eyes, and I began to feel a great sense of urgency overcome me, weighing heavy on my heart.  As she was getting ready to leave one morning, I heard the voice pushing me to go.  When she got to the door and was walking out, I suddenly spoke out asking if she would mind if I came along, saying I would take my own car.  After all, I knew the boy, and I had met his mother a few times before.  I too was worried for him.

She looked at me with surprise and said sure, telling me to hurry because they were all ready to go.  I hurried along and followed them to Eugene.  All the way up there I kept asking why do I need to go, but no answer came, knowing there must be a reason.  It happened so quickly, and there I was standing in his hospital room.  I just stood there at the foot of the bed watching him near lifeless.  My daughter and her boyfriend sat down next to his bed, and she held his hand.  My heart felt so heavy with grief but I didn't feel anything powerful overcome me, and I began to wonder again why I was there.  About half hour later my daughter said they were going to go down to the cafeteria and get something to drink.  When they got up and started to walk toward the door, she said, “Come on mom,” as they disappeared out of the room.  I couldn’t move from the foot of the bed.  I tried to step away but I felt the force inside, and I knew then something was about to happen.

As I stood there, my mind became still when I felt the Holy Spirit come over me, and I heard the voice tell me to take hold of his feet, which sticking straight up under the blankets.  I closed my eyes and with both hands I took a hold of his feet and held them.  It only took a few seconds but I felt some kind of strange energy pass through me to him, and then it was gone and my thoughts returned.  I let go of his feet and said a prayer for him.  Just then I heard my daughter calling out, “Mom,” and I quickly dashed out of the room.  They were both standing at the elevator waiting for me.  She asked me what I was doing and I told her I wanted to say a prayer.

The kids went on to the cafeteria and I left the hospital and drove back home.  I had intended on doing some shopping while there, since I seldom ever got to Eugene, but after that, all I wanted to do was get home ...  I felt like a lot of energy had been zapped from me.  They stayed up there for several more hours, and when my daughter got home, she said his mother was told she might have to take him off life support.  The look on my daughters face broke my heart.  I didn't know if what I had done was going do anything at all, but early the next morning she got a call from one of his brothers telling her that during the night the blood clot disappeared, and he woke up.  She was so excited that they rushed to Eugene to see him.

Thankfully he had no brain damage whatsoever, and after his full recovery he was sent home.  You can only imagine how I felt, but I couldn't say a word about what I had done.  I think I told my daughter many, many years later, but I'm not sure if I did or not.  I have only told a few people over the decades.  It's just something I know inside that happened, and I feel blessed that I was chosen to help that boy ... if indeed it was a miracle.

When I saw him later, when he was all well, I just smiled because I knew he was okay and would go on to live a full life, and as far as I know he did.  So much changed after that when my daughter got married and moved away.  After she and her boyfriend got married, he went into the military, and was stationed in California for a couple of years.  When they returned, she was pregnant with my first grandchild.

It wasn’t her first pregnancy, and it wasn’t the first time I had been to the Eugene hospital, worried sick she would die.  She had a tubal pregnancy that burst, and that nearly took her life.  She had lost so much internally bleeding they had to give her a blood transfusion.  By the time we got to the emergency room she was passed out in my arms.  That was such a scary experience and I prayed the entire time that she didn’t die.  The hardest decision I had to make was allowing the transfusion, as she wasn’t 18 yet, nor capable of making her own decisions.  The reason it was so difficult for me was because HIV/AID’s was peaking at that time, and a good friend of mine had lost her sister to a blood transfusion.  But I made the decision and prayed to God she would be all right, and my prayer was answered.

She and her husband went on to have two daughters, and I was blessed to be there for both deliveries.  They were hard deliveries and she ended up having cesarean babies ... to save both their lives.  Now they are grown up and the oldest granddaughter has blessed me with a great granddaughter and great grandson.  The other granddaughter decided not bring any more children into the world.  Her children are her horses and dogs.

My family truly has been blessed, although, we all have had our up’s and down’s … because that’s life.  And life is full of miracles.

The End