Hello! This is my first posting here, and I'll get to the introduction forum in a bit, but first...
My 15 year old cousin was a passenger in a pretty horrific car accident a couple weekends ago. His airbag didn't deploy (that was under recall), and his seat belt didn't lock, essentially taking away any protection it provided. His neck was actually cut deeply by the seat belt as he came forward, also hitting his head on windshield. He lost quite a significant amount of blood at the scene, nearly bleeding out right there. They were able to stabilize him and take him to a PICU. He's been in a coma and on a ventilator ever since it happened. Initially, the doctors told us all to say our goodbyes. He was a 3 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, but had been raised to a 6 over the week, and even now may be scoring higher since there's signs that he's coming out of the coma.
Most of my family is fairly religious. They all believe that their prayers are what is healing him since many of the doctors are being "proven wrong." He is living when they said he would die. His brain swelling was pretty severe, but apparently has gone done quite a bit without the doctors having to intervene much. The doctors also specifically said that he wouldn't be able to move the right side of his body with the brain damage that was done, but has since moved his toes and squeezed a hand with that side. His mother was also told that a fracture in one of his vertebra is healing on his own, which they claim is 'remarkable'. (I don't know if that's true or not...???) Apparently she's been told they can't explain why he's doing do well all things considered, which has only served to prove to my family that prayer works. My cousin is still facing surgeries: his jaw was broken and will be wired shut for at least 6 weeks, he'll be getting a tracheotomy when they extubate him later this week, they'll place a feeding tube, he'll also need a plate in his head since part of his skull was removed, and he's battling infections all while still trying to awake from the coma. Not to mention the daunting physical, speech, emotional therapies he will need after all of this.
I really don't know what to say to everyone around me about the miracle they claim they are witnessing. They all go on and on about the power of prayer and how a god is healing him. I just sit there and keep my mouth shut. Mind you, the driver of the car (his brother who was DUI) and his pregnant girlfriend in the backseat both walked away from this accident unharmed. I think a minor case of whiplash was the worst of the injuries between the two of them. To me, that would have been the time for a miracle... change that split second decision in the driver's mind so he doesn't change lanes and crash into a big rig, rather than shatter the life of a 15 year old kid. But that's life. You either survive, or you don't. You either recover from your injuries, or you don't. I don't see the work of a god, I see a kid (a pretty big kid at 6'02"!) fighting for his life with medical technology keeping him alive in the meantime. Is the best thing to do to keep my opinions to myself? Because that's what I've been doing so far. I feel like instances like these are why religions will always be around.
My 15 year old cousin was a passenger in a pretty horrific car accident a couple weekends ago. His airbag didn't deploy (that was under recall), and his seat belt didn't lock, essentially taking away any protection it provided. His neck was actually cut deeply by the seat belt as he came forward, also hitting his head on windshield. He lost quite a significant amount of blood at the scene, nearly bleeding out right there. They were able to stabilize him and take him to a PICU. He's been in a coma and on a ventilator ever since it happened. Initially, the doctors told us all to say our goodbyes. He was a 3 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, but had been raised to a 6 over the week, and even now may be scoring higher since there's signs that he's coming out of the coma.
Most of my family is fairly religious. They all believe that their prayers are what is healing him since many of the doctors are being "proven wrong." He is living when they said he would die. His brain swelling was pretty severe, but apparently has gone done quite a bit without the doctors having to intervene much. The doctors also specifically said that he wouldn't be able to move the right side of his body with the brain damage that was done, but has since moved his toes and squeezed a hand with that side. His mother was also told that a fracture in one of his vertebra is healing on his own, which they claim is 'remarkable'. (I don't know if that's true or not...???) Apparently she's been told they can't explain why he's doing do well all things considered, which has only served to prove to my family that prayer works. My cousin is still facing surgeries: his jaw was broken and will be wired shut for at least 6 weeks, he'll be getting a tracheotomy when they extubate him later this week, they'll place a feeding tube, he'll also need a plate in his head since part of his skull was removed, and he's battling infections all while still trying to awake from the coma. Not to mention the daunting physical, speech, emotional therapies he will need after all of this.
I really don't know what to say to everyone around me about the miracle they claim they are witnessing. They all go on and on about the power of prayer and how a god is healing him. I just sit there and keep my mouth shut. Mind you, the driver of the car (his brother who was DUI) and his pregnant girlfriend in the backseat both walked away from this accident unharmed. I think a minor case of whiplash was the worst of the injuries between the two of them. To me, that would have been the time for a miracle... change that split second decision in the driver's mind so he doesn't change lanes and crash into a big rig, rather than shatter the life of a 15 year old kid. But that's life. You either survive, or you don't. You either recover from your injuries, or you don't. I don't see the work of a god, I see a kid (a pretty big kid at 6'02"!) fighting for his life with medical technology keeping him alive in the meantime. Is the best thing to do to keep my opinions to myself? Because that's what I've been doing so far. I feel like instances like these are why religions will always be around.
