William’s Story
Our son was supposed to be healthy…
My wife’s pregnancy of our second child William was happily uneventful, the anatomy scan yielded no surprises or unwanted news and every pre-natal check up went perfectly smooth. My wife went into labor on the night of April 24th and we got some sleep, prepping for the joyful event to come the next day. Labor was long but smooth, William’s vital signs were all positive and I was filled with joy waiting for the moment when I would receive my brand new child into my arms. Finally, a normal birth, finally a healthy baby…
Everything changed the moment he finally came into this world, we don’t know exactly when or how but at some point near delivery William’s ability to receive oxygen was restricted. It was restricted to the point that when he came out he showed no visible signs of life, in an instant my wife and I knew something was very wrong. As medical professionals took over and began to prepare him for resuscitation we cried out to God asking for help. How could this possibly be happening? How could our babies health be lost so quickly? All the dreams of resting and playing with him in the week to come immediately vanished, it was time to rescue our son.
The exact time is not known to us but we have been told that William spent between 20-45 minutes without a pulse. He was clinically dead. I thought there was absolutely no chance that he would live, but by God’s grace and the hard work of a large medical team William was resuscitated and stabilized. It is truly God alone who kills and brings to life. (1 Samuel 2:6) It wasn’t until later that we learned that hospitals typically pronounce a person dead around 25 minutes without a pulse. God is not yet done with little William.
Over the next few hours we went through a revolving door of heavy news and impromptu conversations with doctors behind closed doors. “Your son is the most sick child in the NICU” I was told, “This is an extremely serious…” another doctor said trying to help me understand what was going on. Truly it’s hard to remember exactly what was being said, I was still in shock, I was still wondering what happened to my plans of lounging in bed with my newborn. (I have to pause and praise God as I reflect on these things, He has been so gentle and gracious to me in these times of immense suffering and loss, He truly gives peace that surpasses understanding. On my own I would have broken down entirely.)
After a few days and a lot of tests this is the situation as we understand it so far. William has suffered severe brain damage from an extended period of time without oxygen, he has never responded to external stimulus and it is very possible he never will. He is currently on life support and receiving a cooling treatment to attempt to prevent any further damage to his brain. Within a few days we will learn more about the state of his brain and his overall outlook on brain function. At the present moment William’s brain is not receiving or transmitting any kind of information in a comprehensible way. And there is no treatment to restore William’s brain damage, at least not that we know of. It has been made clear to us that the brain is a mysterious thing, it is not unthinkable that Williams brain could somehow function properly, it is just extremely unlikely.
The next few days of the cooling therapy are extremely critical, not that the cooling will restore brain function, but that we have time to pray for God to restore William’s brain function. Remember, God chose for William to be brought back to life, He has given William the chance to recover and the chance to live. Honestly though I don’t think either are possible without more supernatural intervention.
Please pray earnestly to God for William…
That God would heal his brain completely
That God would give us (his parents) and the doctors wisdom, patience, strength, faith, and compassion
That God would continue to preserve Williams body and bring him to full health in all areas
Our Father in heaven is the Great Physician, Jesus Christ miraculously healed many people during His earthly ministry, and if He desires that William should be healed he will be. We are not optimisitc about our son’s situation but we have hope, we have a sure hope in the power and wisdom of God to do exactly what is best for us and our son. He is our Good Shepherd, He laid His life down for us. The Father has given us His son, will he not give us everthing else we need along with Him?
I mentioned the dreams of relaxing and playing with my son and how they vanished before my eyes, I wanted those dreams to be fulfilled so badly. But I say to you with absolute confidence (by God’s grace) that I don’t want that if it’s not God’s will for me. He is all powerful, all wise, and perfectly loving, I know that what He wills is what is best. Right now I know He wants His children to ask Him for help, I know He wants to glorify His Son Jesus Christ, I know He wants to display His love to my family. I plead with you, pray with me and ask that it would be His will to do all those things through the healing of my son William. Whatever happens, through trial and tear, may Christ be known and loved.
Let’s pray for healing and life but more than anything please join me in echoing our suffering Savior’s prayer “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
