November 11, 2022 | Part 3 of 3
Oliver was transferred to the Pediatric ICU. At the suggestion of the Sisters of Mercy, the family requested that Oliver be Baptized, and the Sister who had been attending to the family arranged for this to happen. Oliver was Baptized with his whole family present. The moment he was blessed with the water, he moved his limbs for the first time. By the end of the day, Oliver was moving all of his limbs; still, the medical care team was uncertain whether the movements were intentional or spasms.
Baptism is conferred by by immersion or pouring the water three times over the candidate’s head
Survival against the odds
By the end of the second day, Oliver was stabilizing. His CT scan came back perfectly normal, and he was grasping bottles and feeding from them, drinking down three in one setting. His pupils were responding appropriately. The surgeon said he expected Oliver to be discharged in 14-21 days.
All doctors who look at Oliver’s case say that it’s a miracle he even made it to surgery. “People don’t just survive 500 mL hematomas” a doctor said. One, hearing of the case, said that “in all his time practicing medicine, no story topped this one.”
Oliver with his mom, Sara
Discharged only 4 days after surgery
Only four days after his surgery, Oliver was discharged with no deficits and with no expected future complication or lasting repercussions. On March 2, he had his outpatient follow-up appointment with his neurosurgeon, who reflected that “even his scar was healing fast.” That same neurosurgeon commented later that he never expected to see Oliver leave the hospital; so, seeing him now as a perfectly healthy baby, as if nothing ever happened, was a cure beyond his medical expectations.
“She helped me,” Oliver said, pointing to a picture of Mother Catherine
The cure was reviewed by three objective physicians: a pediatric intensivist at Johns Hopkins, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Georgetown Medstar, a neurologist at Saint Louis University—all three expressed that the healing was beyond medical explanation. In the Spring of 2017, the Diocese of Tulsa conducted a tribunal investigation, which consisted of another neurosurgeon reviewing all the submitted record and objective professional reviews. September 1, 2018, the Tribunal findings were sealed by the Bishop at a Mass of Thanksgiving in the Saint Francis Hospital chapel, where Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma and of the Americas gathered with Oliver, his family, Saint Francis staff and benefactors. The documents were delivered to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints by a representative from the Diocesan Tribunal, the Postulator for Mother Catherine’s cause for canonization—a Sister of Mercy from Ireland, and a Sister of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. We await the determination from Rome as to whether this cure will serve as the miracle for Mother Catherine’s beatification. Either way, the world is blessed with a perfectly healthy, very smart little 7 year-old today, who is a doting brother to his little sister and a loving son. At the age of 6, Oliver pointed to a picture of Mother Catherine. “She helped me,” he said.
She remains our ever most affectionate Mother Catherine McAuley.
Mass of Thanksgiving for the completion of the tribunal process for Oliver’s case | Oliver’s dad, Sean, is seen smiling in the background
Gathering in the Convent after the Mass of Thanksgiving, September 1, 2018
