The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond This World by Kevin Malarkey; Alex Malarkey Page B
Authors: Kevin Malarkey; Alex Malarkey
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generally treat him as if he fully understood everything. We decided from the beginning to treat him the same as our other children. We spoke to Alex as if his eyes were open and he were listening, nodding, and smiling—just not offering replies. We encouraged him. We told him that God was with him. Our words were truer and more wonderful than we could possibly have guessed.
The surgery went well, according to the doctors who filled us in later. Alex now had two new holes in his body. The medical experts had never thought he would make it far enough to have these procedures. We believed the surgery was simply one more positive step in getting our son back.
As Alex’s condition stabilized a bit, the doctors began exploring next steps. They had told us early on that they eventually planned to fuse the vertebrae in Alex’s neck. Without surgical intervention, they said, his neck would never be stable.
By the end of November, they were considering an interim step: attaching a “halo” brace to Alex’s head that would hold his neck in place. They scheduled an MRI of Alex’s neck for November 30; later that same day, they told us, they might attach the halo. This brace, a metal ring that secures to the skull with pins, would keep his head and neck immobile and could aid in healing the area of greatest injury.
For the doctors, these options were exciting possibilities. For Beth and me they both seemed like steps in the wrong direction. We were holding out for the big victory. We were praying for full healing.
The doctors continued their deliberations, unaware of our struggles. After examining the results of Alex’s MRI, they decided to scrap the halo plan. Yet they continued to consider the vertebrae fusion.
The downside to the surgery was that Alex would never regain full movement in his neck—and what would that mean when he was fully healed? This issue didn’t concern the medical staff. We weren’t really certain what to do, so we talked it over, prayed, and decided to give the surgeons the green light. A date was set, and the army of prayer warriors again assumed their fighting stance—on their knees.
And then we received stunning news. By the end of December, the doctors concluded the vertebrae had healed well without intervention, or rather without medical intervention. “We’re not sure what happened,” the neurosurgeon told me, “but we don’t need to do the surgery.”
I was ecstatic! “That’s okay, Doctor,” I told him. “We understand; in fact, we know what happened. There is a Physician who has been healing people since the beginning of time, and Alex is one of His patients.”
The word went out to Alex’s Army. They rejoiced. But they were not surprised.
We were confident that God had intervened in time and space, responding to the prayers of the saints. Sometime later we discovered other intriguing events that occurred around the same time.
Not long after the surgery was scheduled and then canceled, we heard from Sue, who wanted to tell us about her own experience with Alex. The story she related constituted another miracle in our remarkable experience—and preceded still another miracle.
Visitors in the Night
We’d seen people doing the work of angels—calling 911, climbing into the car to pray with Alex, riding in the helicopter, even showing up to serve God by working on our home. But Sue’s report indicated we were moving into a new arena—one I had no direct experience with.
Sue had responded to an early appeal for prayer warriors who would be willing to stay with Alex overnight. On one such evening, she quietly entered Alex’s room and settled in a chair opposite his bed. She spent the next few hours reading to Alex and praying for him. At around 3 a.m., as her head was bowed in prayer, she heard the sounds of water flowing from the faucet in Alex’s room. That seemed a little odd to her, but since there were no doors in the ICU units, she assumed that one of the nurses
The surgery went well, according to the doctors who filled us in later. Alex now had two new holes in his body. The medical experts had never thought he would make it far enough to have these procedures. We believed the surgery was simply one more positive step in getting our son back.
As Alex’s condition stabilized a bit, the doctors began exploring next steps. They had told us early on that they eventually planned to fuse the vertebrae in Alex’s neck. Without surgical intervention, they said, his neck would never be stable.
By the end of November, they were considering an interim step: attaching a “halo” brace to Alex’s head that would hold his neck in place. They scheduled an MRI of Alex’s neck for November 30; later that same day, they told us, they might attach the halo. This brace, a metal ring that secures to the skull with pins, would keep his head and neck immobile and could aid in healing the area of greatest injury.
For the doctors, these options were exciting possibilities. For Beth and me they both seemed like steps in the wrong direction. We were holding out for the big victory. We were praying for full healing.
The doctors continued their deliberations, unaware of our struggles. After examining the results of Alex’s MRI, they decided to scrap the halo plan. Yet they continued to consider the vertebrae fusion.
The downside to the surgery was that Alex would never regain full movement in his neck—and what would that mean when he was fully healed? This issue didn’t concern the medical staff. We weren’t really certain what to do, so we talked it over, prayed, and decided to give the surgeons the green light. A date was set, and the army of prayer warriors again assumed their fighting stance—on their knees.
And then we received stunning news. By the end of December, the doctors concluded the vertebrae had healed well without intervention, or rather without medical intervention. “We’re not sure what happened,” the neurosurgeon told me, “but we don’t need to do the surgery.”
I was ecstatic! “That’s okay, Doctor,” I told him. “We understand; in fact, we know what happened. There is a Physician who has been healing people since the beginning of time, and Alex is one of His patients.”
The word went out to Alex’s Army. They rejoiced. But they were not surprised.
We were confident that God had intervened in time and space, responding to the prayers of the saints. Sometime later we discovered other intriguing events that occurred around the same time.
Not long after the surgery was scheduled and then canceled, we heard from Sue, who wanted to tell us about her own experience with Alex. The story she related constituted another miracle in our remarkable experience—and preceded still another miracle.
Visitors in the Night
We’d seen people doing the work of angels—calling 911, climbing into the car to pray with Alex, riding in the helicopter, even showing up to serve God by working on our home. But Sue’s report indicated we were moving into a new arena—one I had no direct experience with.
Sue had responded to an early appeal for prayer warriors who would be willing to stay with Alex overnight. On one such evening, she quietly entered Alex’s room and settled in a chair opposite his bed. She spent the next few hours reading to Alex and praying for him. At around 3 a.m., as her head was bowed in prayer, she heard the sounds of water flowing from the faucet in Alex’s room. That seemed a little odd to her, but since there were no doors in the ICU units, she assumed that one of the nurses
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