During one of the retreats with Fr. Krzysztof Wieliczko, Administrator of the John Paul II Foundation, taking place from October 5-8th, at the St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Delray Beach in Florida an unusual meeting took place.
After one of the sermons, that was related to miracles which happened through the intercession of Saint John Paul II, a woman approached the Father and asked for permission to share her experience with the Saint Pope. Fr. Krzysztof met with the woman and her husband on October 6thin the Parish store which she oversees. For more than an hour, she was sharing her history with burst cranial aneurysm and the miracle which happened through the intercession of St. John Paul II. She had tears in her eyes while she was telling her story and those were tears of gratitude to St. John Paul II for saving her life. Fr. Krzysztof asked her to write down her story, but she stated that writing each word creates tears of gratitude, so she asked her husband to write it down for her. Below is the story written by her husband, John:
“At about 10:15 p.m. on January 6, 2016, my wife Sharon called from the kitchen saying, “John I’m dizzy”. I ran from the adjacent room and saw her holding on to the counter top and said, “let’s sit you down” and grasped her under her arms. As I moved her to an adjacent chair no more than 4 ft. away, she said, “my head hurts” and that was the last time she spoke in 12 days. I immediately called 911 suspecting a stroke or an aneurysm. The 911 operator asked if she was unconscious and I said “no”. Her eyes were open, but blank and she did not answer any of my questions. The operator stayed on the line until the ambulance arrived at our condo. Sharon had not passed out but was unresponsive. When the F MT’s checked her out, they loaded her on a gurney and we headed to Bethesda Hospital with me following in our SUV. They did an MRI confirming that she had suffered a burst cranial aneurysm. They intubated her and put back in the ambulance to go to Delray Medical Center which specializes in neurological problems. I remember the on-call Neurologist who with me looking over his shoulder shined the flashlight into her eye and there was no dilation at all. He turned to me saying that this was not a good sign. They took her for another MRI. I called SVF requesting a priest. Fr. Denis arrived, and we held Sharon’s hands and prayed, and the Sacrament of the Sick was administered by Father. I was crying, and the neurosurgeon arrived and after viewing the MRI requested my permission to drill a hole in her head to drain excess blood and spinal fluid which had filled her head and was causing brain tissue damage. I agreed. I called our three children, all who lived out of state, informing them what had happened, and I sat in the waiting area crying and praying overnight.
The next morning, I drove home and made arrangement with our neighbor to care for our dog Buster. I changed clothes and went back to the hospital. That night, as Sharon was sedated to keep her still, she received her first of many visits from our Pastor, Msgr. Tom, who brought St. John Paul II relic with him and we prayed for Sharon. At the end of our prayers, Msgr. blessed her. Sharon remained unresponsive for 10-12 days as Msgr. visited her each night along with John Paul II’s relic and he blessed her, and we prayed.
The sedation was lowered as her cranial pressure stabilized. She started awakening, even ripping the cranial drain tubing out, which needed replacement and restraint. Msgr. continued visits and Sharon even prayed along with us in both Polish and English. Slowly, she improved, and I remember the Neurologist saying to me that he had never seen a patient in his 30+years who had been so unresponsive recovering as she did. Despite being of the Jewish faith, he said it was truly a miracle. He told me that 95% of patients suffering from the same, don’t live, and the few that do survive suffer from paralysis, speech defects and other maladies. Sharon has none of these problems and has returned to managing our Parish Gift Shop and driving our vehicle. She has some short-term memory issues.
When first released from the hospital in March 2016, Sharon experienced memory problems and in May went back to the hospital to have a shunt placed surgically in her head to regulate pressure. If the pressure gets too high the shunts drains fluid internally relieving it. Her checkups since then have all been positive and the Neurologist doesn’t see her for a year unless she experiences problems.
I concur with the Doctor’s assessment that this was indeed a miracle and I believe that Msgr. Tom’s continual visits and blessings with the relics of St. John Paul II along with ongoing prayers of many were instrumental in Sharon’s recovery.”
