LifeNews has repeatedly chronicled cases of people who were prematurely declared dead or said to be in supposedly persistent vegetative states who ultimately recovered. We have also covered miraculous cases where an act of God appears to be the only reason or only answer as to why a patient has recovered.
File this story under “act of God” or “answered prayers.”
Taylor Hale, then 14, suffered traumatic brain injury when she fell off hood of car while horsing around with friends in 2011. She spent a week in medically induced coma to help her brain heal, but she suffered a brain hemorrhage and her brain has supposedly “turned to mush.”
Doctors declared Taylor brain dead and took her off life support, but hours later she woke up. Right before Taylor came out of coma, a devout family friend visited her and prayed for her recovery. Jeff Stickel, a chiropractor, laid his hand on Taylor’s neck while praying with family.
Hale, now 17, will be graduating from high school on Monday.
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Here’s more about her amazing story:
The family of Taylor Hale gathered in her hospital room nearly four years ago. They assembled to say goodbye.
The date was Sept. 17, 2011 — six days after what normally would have been a silly teenage moment spawned a terrible sequence of events that resulted in two parents preparing to say goodbye to their 14-year-old daughter.
Taylor was at a friend’s house on Sept. 11 after the first Waukee High School football game. A friend was leaving, and Taylor and another friend teased him. They didn’t want to leave. They sat on the hood of his car to stop him. He backed up.
Taylor was carried slightly farther, then slipped off and hit the pavement. Hard. She didn’t get up. She didn’t respond. Someone called 911. Someone else called Taylor’s mother, Stacy Henningsen.
Doctors and nurses fought to save Taylor’s life. But at the end of a grueling session, Taylor’s brain sank part way into her spinal canal. No one comes back from that, the doctors told Taylor’s mother, Stacy, and her father, Chuck Hale. Nothing more could be done. Their daughter was brain dead. It was time to make arrangements to take her off life support and discuss organ donation.
That afternoon, Jeff Stickel, a chiropractor and friend of Taylor’s parents visited the hospital. Stickel had wanted to come for some time. He felt God was calling him to treat Taylor. Stacy and Chuck figured he was too late.
He asked if he could pray with the family. They agreed. He put his hands on her neck and prayed for God to heal Taylor. The family thanked Stickel. He left.
Later that afternoon, doctors turned off the life support that had been helping her breath since the accident. And then, something unexpected happened: Taylor struggled to take a breath under her own power. They reconnected life support. As the day went on, Taylor’s brain activity began to increase. Her eyes fluttered. She made mumbling noises, trying to talk.
And finally, Taylor Hale, considered brain dead by science, awoke from her coma.
“It was the hand of God at work,” Chuck said. “That’s the only thing that can explain it.”
Click here to read more about Taylor and her recovery.
