The parents of a young Adelaide boy who was the victim of a hammer-throwing accident have spoken of their gratitude for the groundswell of prayers they believe helped save him. Source: The Southern Cross.
When Christian Brothers College Year 7 student Javale Morato was rushed to Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital on September 5 with a traumatic brain injury, doctors told the family to expect the worst.
A few hours earlier, his mum Teresa and four-year-old sister Jeorgianna had arrived at St Albans Reserve, Clearview, to pick him up from athletics training and take him to his martial arts class. From the car, Teresa watched Javale have a drink of water and then throw the javelin before she turned to the back seat to unbuckle her daughter’s seatbelt.
By the time she turned back, there was a group of students and teachers gathered around a child lying on the ground. Teresa ran onto the field and was told Javale had been hit by a metal ball.
A woman came and tried to calm her down, saying “he’s fine”. But she knew he wasn’t fine. Her fears were confirmed when the paramedics turned Javale over and she saw that his face was “all black” from a lack of oxygen.
At the hospital, Teresa cried as she repeated the doctor’s words – “severe traumatic brain injury” – and remembered being asked to sign a waiver for the high-risk operation on his brain.
“A lot of questions were running through my mind but hearing the words that he might not make it … I said ‘please save my baby’.
“After the neurosurgeon left the room my friend and I started praying the Rosary. We called our friends, they also started praying together. I called all the people – our priest, friends, family, everyone who could help us in that time.”
When Javale had his first MRI two days after the accident, the doctors pointed out the abnormalities in the scans. Two or three weeks later, he had another MRI and the doctors said there was no difference from before.
And yet Javale was making good progress including recognising his family and friends and regaining some movement on his right side, which was impacted the most by the injury to the left side of the brain.
“The doctors couldn’t explain his behaviour, and after that they said ‘we are not referring to the MRI results, we are clinically assessing him’.”
Overcome with emotion, Teresa demonstrated how Javale could now lift his right hand and between sobs she whispered, “we didn’t need to be told why, we knew”, referring to their belief in the power of prayer.
“Actually, since day one it’s already a miracle, like escaping this kind of injury, like from the surgery to the present,” Jason said.
“You know miracles are happening every day, through prayer.”
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Miracles really do happen (By Jenny Brinkworth, The Southern Cross)
