I just found this update !
Wounded soldier's recovery seen as uncanny development
North Tonawanda group prays at exact same time Pirinelli regains senses
By LOU MICHEL
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
8/7/2004
Those who doubt the power of prayer might consider this uncanny development in the ongoing recovery of critically wounded Army Spc. John Pirinelli.
As hundreds of people gathered in North Tonawanda's Gateway Park on Thursday evening to pray for the 23-year-old soldier from Bergholz, a half a world away he started experiencing his first sustained moments of clarity.
Taking into account the six-hour time difference between Germany and here, Philip Pirinelli said his brother began squeezing the hands of family members at the same time the prayer service started at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
"It was 2:30 a.m. Friday in Germany and Johnny began squeezing my hand consistently when I'd ask him to. By 5 a.m. his eyes were wide open, no more fluttering," the 26-year-old brother said.
And he just kept making progress.
By 6 a.m., Philip was playfully teasing his younger brother.
"I said "Johnny do you want your brother to give you a kiss on the forehead?' He'd shake his head no. Then I'd ask if he wanted my wife to kiss him and he'd nod his head yes," the older brother said during a break Friday from his bedside vigil at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Philip Pirinelli of Lockport is in Germany with his wife, Stephanie, and his parents, Robert and Rise Pirinelli of Bergholz. They arrived there Tuesday after doctors suggested they make the trip because of the infantryman's grave condition from a bullet wound to the back.
"It's crazy what the power of prayer can do. I can't imagine not having faith," Philip Pirinelli said, describing his brother's recovery as nothing short of a miracle. "A nurse who first saw him when he came in last week said he was so torn up he wouldn't live."
Surgery on Friday to replace a breathing tube also was described as a success.
"When I asked the doctor if my brother would be home for Christmas, the doctor said "How about October,' " Pirinelli said.
He and his father are scheduled to accompany the soldier on a medical flight either Monday or Wednesday to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.
State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-North Tonawanda, who drove Philip and Stephanie Pirinelli to Manhattan late Sunday night to obtain last-minute passports for the overseas trip, said he has no doubt the entire turn of events is miraculous.
"I'm never at my house, but I was home for 30 minutes Sunday when I got the call there," he said referring to the Pirinelli family's plea for assistance in getting the passports.
Since then the passport story has been reported nationally.
"I got a call from a sailor on a boat in San Diego. He called me on his cell phone just to say thanks as a member of the military," Maziarz said, adding that State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Gov. George E. Pataki also called to commend him for assisting the family.
e-mail:
lmichel@buffnews.com