Susan Torres' Husband and Parents Reveal Strange Happening on Night of Susan's Tragic Collapse

Susan Torres' Husband and Parents Reveal Strange Happening on Night of Susan's Tragic Collapse As told for the first time in interview with lifesitenews.com

ARLINGTON, VA, August 5, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The story of the heroic struggle to preserve the life of the unborn child of life-support patient Susan Torres and her husband Jason, and the miraculous birth of their baby girl, Susan Anne Catherine Torres, has unexpectedly received worldwide publicity. Thousands of news sources picked up on the fight for the life of baby Susan and broadcast the evolving miracle to hundreds of millions of readers and viewers across the globe.

In lengthy interviews with LifeSiteNews.com the parents of Susan’s husband, Jason—Sonny and Karen Torres—talked about the events that have plunged their entire family into suffering beyond imagination, and provided information and insights into their struggle that they say they have shared with no other news media.

Susan TorresJason’s soft-spoken father, Sonny, has given express permission to LifeSiteNews to print the details of what both he and his son have increasingly come to believe was a shared mystical experience, foretelling the great influence of the miraculous story of Susan and her unborn daughter, and ordering it to be spread. Sonny told LifeSiteNews that until now he has not provided any other news media with the following information because he was afraid that the mainstream media would fail to understand and would distort the story. “I want it to be done the way pro-life people would want it to be done,” he said.

Several times Sonny repeated that he is not the sort of person who is inclined to put much weight in personal mystical experiences. “I’m not the person to be spreading this kind of thing,” he said, “But it has touched me.” Karen herself assured LifeSiteNews that her husband and her son, although men of faith, have never been the type of people to go in for this sort of thing.

But now, Sonny said over the phone, as the story of Susan and her baby has spread beyond the understanding or dreams of any of the members of the Torres family, he said that he has come to believe that there must be more to it all than can be naturally explained away.

On the night of Susan’s collapse, May 7, said Sonny, he returned home with his wife Karen at about 3:00am, and went to bed, exhausted. At about 4:15am, without any warning, he awoke and sat bolt upright. Karen also awoke and asked him what the matter was.

“What it was,” he said, “it wasn’t a dream…This was so different from a dream…so…so powerful. It was words that came to me. It was a woman’s voice; my wife made me write it down. It wasn’t a request, it was a command.”

“Was it a loving voice?” he asked rhetorically. “In a way I think it was, but not the way most people would think. It was like the voice of a parent telling their kids to do something, and saying don’t question why, do it because I told you to.”

Sonny said that although it struck him at the time as a singular and unusual experience, he put it down to overwrought nerves, still barely coming to terms with the tragedy of his daughter-in-law’s sudden collapse only a few hours before. It wasn’t until the following day when he began to tell his son what happened that he was given a palpable reason to think of it as something more than imagination.

“I went to my son later that day,” continued Sonny, “and I began to tell him about it and he said ‘Stop! Let me tell you what I had.’ We compared notes, and it happened about the same time—4:15 in the morning. And his is almost word for word of mine.”

The words that both Sonny and Jason believe they heard, before the life-affirming story of Susan ever reached the ears of a journalist or a newsman, are the following:

“You and others will tell the world of a fight to save a precious life, not to change hardened hearts, but to give hope to those who believe, so that they know that there is more than what they see and hear. Let them come and see for themselves.”

Sonny’s voice shook as he read the paper on which he had written those words. “I have a hard time reading the paper…At any other time I would have thought I was a crazy person having a dream,” he said. “But the way this has taken off, I really question that now.”

When Sonny was asked why he thought that the story of Susan had gained such widespread attention he responded: “I guess, and I kind of hope it is, that people are really tired of seeing nothing but Terri Schiavo stuff, they’re really tired of reading about Laci Peterson and her baby just being thrown away. And it’s nice to see somebody that’s going the other direction.”

Karen concurred: “I would say that the Holy Spirit decided that this world needed the story of someone fighting for a little human life. And also, I’ve come to the conclusion that people are kind…kinder than people give them credit for.”

But Sonny also said that from the viewpoint of the family, the fact that their story has gone as big as it has is more than a little puzzling: “We’re kind of surprised…because to us there was no other choice. People come to all of us and they are so touched and say it’s such an honour to meet us. But we didn’t have a choice in what we did. This is the way it’s supposed to be.”

He also challenged those who have callously spoken out against Jason’s decision to keep his wife alive, to come to see the newborn baby. On the radio the day before, Sonny said, he’d heard someone saying that Catholics need to get it into their heads that life doesn’t begin until birth. “Susan was three months early,” he said, “and there’s a lot of abortions that are done on kids her size. All you have to do is stand and look at that incubator…life starts a lot earlier than birth. I just invite them…I’ll show them myself.”

Even given the strong faith of the family, however, both Karen and Sonny admitted that at no point was it easy. In early July, it is a little reported fact that Karen’s mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. “There were some days,” said Karen, “when it was difficult to put one foot in front of the other, especially with the death of my mother.”

“Our faith and the kindness of other people praying for us was the only thing that got us through.” She said that through it all she was reminded of a famous quote by president Lincoln given during the Civil War. “I’m driven to my knees by the conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

She continued, “I tell my children, now do you understand why you must go to Church on Sunday’s and keep your spiritual life in order? You can’t get it in good order in the middle of something like this. Faith is the only thing that gets you through.”

Both Sonny and Karen, when asked if there was anything in particular that they would like printed, said that they would like to thank the millions who have stood so firmly behind their family and supported them. “Thanks to all the millions of people that have been sending even just little letters from across the world. That has kept the family and Jason going,” said Sonny. And Karen thanked the many who have donated to the Susan Torres Fund, saying “At least now [Jason] doesn’t have to file for bankruptcy while he’s burying his wife.”

They also asked for further prayers as they wait for detailed tests from the pathologist that will say for sure whether or not Susan’s melanoma passed through the placenta to her new born daughter.

To help alleviate the estimated $1 million in medical costs visit the Susan Torres Fund at http://www.susantorresfund.org

See previous LifeSiteNews reports: Susan Torres Dies After Receiving the Last Sacraments of the Catholic Church http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/aug/05080403.html

Family Struggles to Keep “Brain Dead” Woman Alive for her Unborn Child http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jun/05061604.html

My Grandma passed away in February, at 92. She lingered for weeks in a semi-aware state and was often "talking" to people who had already passed.

About ten days before she died, her good friend "Helen" succumbed to cancer. A decision was made not to mention it in front of Grandma, as we were not sure of her awareness.

A few hours after her friend left us, Grandma sat up and asked quite clearly while looking upwards..."Helen...should I come home now?"

On the night that my dad went down with a massive aortic aneurysm and was clinging to life in the ICU, I slept on his side of the king-size bed near my mom. For over an hour I thought my mom was holding my hand, and it was very comforting. Then I glanced over and realized that my mom was turned away from me and couldn't possibly be holding my hand.
It was an amazing experience.

My own precious Mother was speaking with her Italian departed relatives the day before her death. She kept repeating "hurry up Familia".. I asked her what she was seeing. She said "I see a light..a big white light". She said she saw "blue smoke". (I don't know what that meant)

Finally, before she lost consciousness, she looked straight ahead, eyes open and alert, and said "alright, let's go..let's go".

The nurses told me that MANY people talk with their dead friends and relatives before they die. I believe it :)

There were many mystical experiences surrounding the death of my Mom in 2001. The smallest and most special was my brother having brought a rose stem with three golden roses coming into full bloom on the same stem -- He called them representative of Jesus and Mary (the top two) and the one sheltering under these two he called "Mom".

The main aside here -- my Mother loved roses and was able to keep them alive, in the last year through my sister, Sr Mary, for weeks at a time.

Within moments of my Mom entering Eternity -- the roses died, a happening that never happened in that house.

Another mystical experience was that of my sister back in 1987, and concerned her certain knowledge through a dream that a young boy of her parish (who was 300 miles away in Memphis at St Jude's) had received the Eucharist for the first time -- when she awoke and went to Mass, the priest made the announcement that four year old Phillip, had indeed received his First Communion.

Just a few short months later, my sister was awakened in the middle of the night, aware and positive that Phillip was dying -- It was 3:15 AM. She began to recite the response to the Hail Mary and when she arose and went across the street to Mass, Father announced Phillip's death at 3:15 that morning.

I consider Phillip's intercession to have been instrumental in my youngest daughter's having realized the grave danger that her son was in with her and her abusive and drug using husband, and her "giving" him to his Grandfather and myself.

My mom died of cancer in 1985. The last month of her life the cancer effected her brain to the point she did not recognize myself, my father, my children, and she no longer made any sense when we tried to talk to her.

They day before she died, she became lucid, turned to my father and said "I spoke to Ya-ya (my grandmother, her mother) last night and she said everything is going to be alright". She died the following night.

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