Baby Joseph with his father Moe Maraachli
early this morning as they head home to Windsor, Canada.
Posted on 04/21/2011 8:30:38 AM PDT by wagglebee
Baby Joseph with his father Moe Maraachli
early this morning as they head home to Windsor, Canada.
WINDSOR, Ontario, April 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Baby Joseph and his family arrived in Windsor, Ontario on a medical transport flight from St. Louis, Missouri this morning. He is now at the family home, according to Brother Paul O’Donnell.
On behalf of Baby Joseph’s family, Brother O’Donnell told LifeSiteNews that that their son was weaned off ventilator support 12 days ago and has been successfully breathing on his own since then.
Baby Joseph, who has been at the center of an international right-to-life debate over the past few months, has defied critics by responding so well to treatment. After the Ontario hospital treating Joseph’s progressive and terminal neurological disease threatened to remove his life support against his parents’ wishes earlier this year, pro-life groups rallied to Joseph’s cause.
With the financial support and assistance of Father Frank Pavone and Priests for Life, Joseph was taken to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri where doctors performed the tracheotomy that Joseph’s parents had been requesting all along.
Sixteen-month-old Baby Joseph received a successful tracheotomy on March 21, responding well to the procedure, which gave him increased mobility and comfort while providing a stable, secure airway. With the tracheotomy, which created an opening into Joseph’s windpipe through an incision in his neck, Joseph’s airway has been kept free from secretions that would have caused him to choke.
Dr. Robert Wilmott, Chief of Pediatrics for SSM Cardinal Glennon and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said Joseph has been breathing so well on his own there will be no need to take him to a local rehabilitation hospital and he can be transported to Ontario.
“Joseph has been breathing on his own, without the aid of a mechanical ventilator, for more than a week,” Wilmott said. “By providing him with this common palliative procedure, we’ve given Joseph the chance to go home and be with his family after spending so much of his young life in the hospital.”
Meanwhile, Joseph’s parents and 7-year-old brother, who have spent more than a month in St. Louis, have expressed their extreme gratitude to all who have made it possible to save the life of their son.
“So many people from the United States and Canada and all around the world have reached out, sent letters and called my family to let us know they were praying for us and thinking about us,” Joseph’s father Moe Maraachli said. “This has really helped our family through this hard time, to know there is so much kindness in the world.”
“We are so grateful for the amazing care and compassion we have received from the doctors, nurses and staff of Cardinal Glennon. Our family also wants to thank the team at Windsor Regional Hospital for reaching out to our family and Dr. Wilmott and making the transfer back home a reality.”
Commending the staff at Cardinal Glennon, Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life said Joseph has defied so many critics.
“Our mission to save Baby Joseph and help his family was never based on any prediction of the future, but rather on the value of his life here and now. Our critics, on the other hand, looking into the crystal ball that ‘right to die’ advocates seem to always think they have, claimed our intervention was futile because Joseph would only end up having a machine do his breathing for him,” said Fr. Pavone.
“We don’t have to answer their criticism; Joseph is doing that for us, with every breath he takes,” continued Fr. Pavone. “Baby Joseph’s victory over the culture of death is especially powerful now, as we prepare for Easter, a time when Christians everywhere celebrate Jesus’ victory over death.”
“Priests for Life is happy and humbled to have played a small part in making this joyous day possible. We ask everyone to join us as we continue to pray for Baby Joseph and his family.”
I wonder, has there EVER been a case of someone with no brain function breathing on their own?
God is good, no?
Thanks for the post, may God continue to bless this family with the advocates that they needed.
And they'll know we our Christians by our love ...
Praise and thanks to God. Heartfelt thanks to Priests for Life and all those involved in Joseph's rescue from the clutches of the Culture of Death. Every human life is of incalculable value and a gift from God to all who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Happy and Blessed Easter to all.
Yes, thankfully they were wrong. I still pray for a miracle in this case.
I know it would be a miracle if this disease turns out not to be terminal, but I can’t help hoping that somehow a miracle will happen.
Thanks God and His Holy Saints
Heh...Jinx!
I just prayed a little breath prayer that Baby Joseph's condition be reversed from its terminal condition and give us a very nice Easter present! It would be nice for baby Joseph to open his eyes, recognize his father, and smile. It would be nice to acknowledge that with the grace of God, power of the Holy Spirit, and the sacrifice of Jesus that ANYTHING is possible, even the impossible.
Lord hear our prayer!
The little man showed The Man!!
Keep fighting, Baby Joseph!
I've gone to previous threads and pinged four of them to this thread, but I don't see them showing up. I wonder what's wrong with them.
Our God is a good and merciful God.
What great news and two thumbs up for Fr. Pavone, Priests for Life, and all who helped in baby Joseph’s case.
What a lovely thought!
Amen. :)
Kaila’s most recent post was here on 4/15/11:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2705242/posts?page=24#24
Terry was alert, conscious and communicating when she was murdered. We must fight every decision of the murder culture as they seek to winnow the population according to their mad desires.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andre Kim, 347-286-7277
New York, NY – Fr. Frank Pavone, who traveled with Baby Joseph from Canada to St Louis last month, issued this statement at 10:30am ET today:
“Baby Joseph’s journey, from the prison of the Canadian hospital to the faith-filled treatment he received in St Louis, has now brought him to the safety and comfort of his own home, with his loving parents and older brother, in Windsor, Ontario.
“There is no ‘life support’ or ventilator needed for Baby Joseph. From a medical perspective, we did not have any preconceived outcome in our mind, nor do we know how long his life will be. What we do know is that there are several key lessons to draw from this story:
a) Doctors do not always know best. Day by day, situations turn out better than many doctors predict. The desires of the patient and the family need to be honored above any kind of medical dictatorships. Some were saying that nothing should be done for Baby Joseph, because he would be attached to machines for the rest of his life [kaila]. But today, he is breathing on his own.
b) Families need to fight to care for their loved ones. Moe Maraachli and his wife Sana are strong in their faith and in their love for their children. They did not let the death of a previous child bring them to despair about this one. Rather, they fought hard for Joseph to get the care that has now helped him.
c) The meaning and value of life does not come from medical tribunals or courts, and it is not measured in years, months, or days. It is measured by giving and receiving love, first from God and then from each other. [AMEN!]
d) When people band together for the cause of life, victories can be won. So many people sent emails, prayed, and are helping pay for Baby Joseph’s care (see BabyJosephCentral.com). We need to stay engaged in the pro-life cause, because there are many more victories to win.
“We thank everyone who has helped and will continue to help with this case and others like it. As Moe Maraachli has said, we did not do this only for Baby Joseph, but for all the other Baby Josephs to come.”
c) The meaning and value of life does not come from medical tribunals or courts, and it is not measured in years, months, or days. It is measured by giving and receiving love, first from God and then from each other.
AMEN!
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