Living Faith: Rise and Walk. A Miracle for Lucy

 'Your sister will never walk again'. After being bed-ridden for more than two and a half years, Lucy sat up in her bed, swung around and stood up. John was on one side and Terry on the other and she walked across the room and back. We were overcome with joy!

HOUSTON, TX (Catholic Online) - "Your sister will never walk again". The words seemed unreal to me. I cried and asked if there was anything they could do. The doctor then proceeded to tell me that due to the severity of her injuries from a fall, the x-rays showed her bones had shattered in her back. If, and only with a slight chance of success, surgery was a possibility, the procedure would have to be done from the front of her body thereby putting at risk her internal organs. They could not take the risk. It seemed hopeless. Lucy also had severe pneumonia and was being treated for that too.
 
In November of 2007 Lucy had a serious fall in the bathroom and had broken her back. There had been a loud snap in her back and she fell to the floor in a heap unable to sit up or move her legs. The paramedics were called and she was taken to the UTMB hospital in Galveston.
 
Just 2 years prior we lost our beloved mother and five months later received the news that our sister Susan had suddenly passed away from a bladder infection that had gotten into her kidneys and caused sepsis (a poisoning of the blood) to set in. She was 50 years old. Previously, three brothers had died tragically as well. I questioned God, "why Lord"? I knew God had a plan for Lucy.
 
We were all born in Puerto Rico. Our parents met in WWII in a hospital unit in Germany. My father was a Doctor from Puerto Rico and my mother a nurse from New York of Irish descent. They fell in love and married and after the war, settled in Puerto Rico. They were blessed with eight, healthy children, four boys, and four girls. Lucy was the first girl after 2 boys, Thomas and Richard, and was the apple of my father's eye. Another boy, Philip came along, then 3 girls in a row, Rosemarie, Susan, me and then one more boy, James.
 
At 54 years old my father suffered a heart attack and my mother at age 43 was left a widow with 8 children ranging in ages 5 to 17. She made the decision to move to the states to be close to her mother and sister Maybelle in Florida.
 
With the great loss of our father, adjusting to a new culture and learning a new language, my sister Lucy went into a deep depression. She would lock herself in her room and wouldn't eat. Her weight went down to 85 pounds.
 
In Puerto Rico Lucy had been a 'straight A' student, popular, and with many friends. She always made me laugh and had inspired me to learn French. My mother took her to a psychiatrist and it was determined Lucy was mentally ill. She was diagnosed bi-polar with schizophrenic tendencies. The tragedy of losing our father and the culture shock was a catalyst to her illness. Medications were given to help her.
 
Lucy married at 22 years old and two years later her husband Roy was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. She remarried at 30 years old and is currently with her husband John.
 
At the hospital in Galveston a sort of fiberglass "shell" had been fashioned for Lucy so that she would be able to sit up. The "shell" encased her and went from her neck to her abdomen. A Hoyer lift was used to get her up from the bed into her wheelchair. Lucy was sent home but the only way to transport her was by ambulance on a stretcher. Hurricane Ike came along and she and her husband John were evacuated to Austin. Lucy was transported here to Houston where she and her husband now live close by our home.
 
On our way home from church on Sunday the 22nd of February in 2010 my husband Terry and I stopped by to see how Lucy was doing. She proceeded to tell me that she could walk. I asked what had happened and she told me a Catholic priest from our parish who visits the homebound had come by and prayed and anointed her with oil and had prayed for God to heal her.
 
"Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up".( James 5:14-15 NIV)
 
After being bed-ridden for more than two and a half years, Lucy sat up in her bed, swung around and stood up. John was on one side and Terry on the other and she walked across the room and back. We were overcome with joy! We embraced and wept at God's faithfulness and grace! Her legs were so atrophied from inactivity for so long that they looked like sticks. It didn't seem possible that her legs could hold her up, but there she was walking!
 
"Jesus said to the paralytic, "I tell you get up and take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God". (Mark 2:11-12 NIV)
 
Jesus said "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt. 17:20 NIV)
 
Jesus is here today and hears our prayers and petitions. Praise God for His compassion and undying love for us and His faithfulness to Lucy.
 
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb. 13:8 NIV)

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Amen!

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Evelina O'Malley writes from Houston, Texas

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