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The Power of a Family's Faith

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“911”

“Um, I need to report a crash.”

“Where at?”

“Um, I need an ambulance here.”

“Someone needs an ambulance?”

“Yea there’s a boy, his head’s gushing blood in the back seat.”

The caller was 18-year-old Lexi Asa. The “boy” was her 16-year-old brother Bobby. “I don’t know I feel like I'm in so much shock that it wasn't really like, his eyes were completely closed, so he was just – it literally looked like he was sleeping.”

Bobby was backing into their father’s driveway, when another car slammed into the driver’s side. The impact was so violent, first responders found him in the back seat of the car. 

Chris says, “He was completely out. No response to pain, he wasn’t moving his limbs. Over the years seeing patients this badly injured, I didn’t see how there could be a positive outcome.”

As Bobby was rushed to the nearest hospital, Lexi called her mother Heather, who lives an hour away.

Heather, Bobby's mother, says, “So, literally, you know, I'm 45 minutes now – sorry. And as you’re driving, you’re thinking of everyone one of your kids. Just everything flashes before you and...I don't think you have anything else to do but pray. I mean, it was – it's out of my hands.”

Heather and the rest of the family gathered at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. There, they found Bobby in a coma and on a ventilator. An MRI confirmed he had suffered brain trauma and a broken neck.

Heather says, “You almost feel like you're in a fog, you know, it's going in one ear and out the other. I don't know what it's like to lose a kid. I don't want to know. You know, I don't – I don't – I don't want to outlive my children.”

Doctors repaired Bobby’s neck and took measures to reduce swelling on his brain, but gave the family little hope he would come out of his coma, assuming he survived.

Lexi says, “If he ever wakes up, he's going to be a quadriplegic. And we just sat there and cried.”

After 8 days in ICU with no improvement, Doctors told the family Bobby needed a tracheotomy. Some doctors advised to take Bobby off life support all together.

Heather says, “They were just to the point like, he's not moving, he's not responsive, he's not doing anything. He's going to be in a bed for the rest of his life. And I remember going back to Bobby and just bawling.”

But a mother’s heart sensed that this fight wasn’t over. “I don't want Bobby to be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. That’s not, there’s no quality there, but I didn't feel that way. You know, I-I – I felt like Bobby was going to get better. I think that was the only prayer that I prayed. You know, I just – and just keep Bobby alive.”

So, the family approved the tracheotomy. Afterwards, they along with a large group of friends held a prayer vigil outside the hospital.

Heather says, “I had said down in the prayer vigil that, you know, I have to give it to God. And I – I hadn't done that yet. If it's not the time for you to go, then He's going to do awesome things.”

Bobby remained stable over the next several days, but still showed no signs of improvement. By now, a firestorm of prayer was sweeping through social media, his mother and three sisters refusing to leave his bedside.

Lexi says, “And I literally thanked God every single day for that Bobby's walking and talking like before. I just thanked him for things that I knew was to come.”

Lorielle says, “We were like, ‘God, we need you. Like, we – I have nothing else. Like, Bobby is sleeping. Like, these people can't do anything for Bobby. We need you to start waking this kid up. Like, we need a miracle.’"

At times, keeping hope alive was its own battle.

Lorielle says, “I saw him, and I was like, ‘God, why did you do this?’ Like I just – I didn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

But the light would come. Bobby had been in the ICU 2 weeks when they started noticing small movements. By the end of 4 weeks, doctors were able to remove Bobby’s trach tube, and move him to rehab.  Gradually he came out of his coma. One day, he was finally able to speak.

Heather says, "’Mom’ was the first thing that he said. And they did work really hard on getting him to say mom. And I just started bawling.”

Bobby stayed in rehab for ten weeks building his strength and relearning the basics of life like, how to walk and feed himself. Every day was a new challenge, but he knew who could get him back.

Bobby says, “I was literally hanging by a thread, it was like so easy to break. But then God pulled it up and therefore it turned into a rope. Because now it's like I'm almost completely back to the same as I was.”

Bobby continues to get better and stronger. He and his family thank God for every new day.

Lexi says, “It just shows you that like prayer is not like some myth, like it works. He's a miracle worker, like He makes miracles and He's a healer.”

Heather concludes, “I look at Bobby every day, and he is a walking, talking miracle. He should not be here. And if he is here, he shouldn't be doing what he's doing. And it's incredible to think that God can take something and turn it around like that.”


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