A ‘miracle’ baby who was without oxygen or blood flow for 20-minutes is still alive all because of the power of prayer.
Hannah Sheriff was in labor all geared up to meet her fifth child when she realised something wasn’t right. The doctors performed an emergency C-section on her and found her uterus hemorrhaging blood and the baby’s heart rate had dropped.
Baby Urias John was born without a heartbeat, and even after CPR was done, he was still not breathing. His chances of survival were slipping away and even after the critical 10-minute mark had passed, the team were still trying to revive him. They found a pulse but the baby had been without oxygen or blood flow for 20-minutes.
Jacob, the baby’s father, was in the operating room with his wife, but none of them could do anything to help the situation except to pray.
The doctors intubated and prepped the baby to be life-flighted and he was brought to Texas Health Presbyterian, a hospital 80 miles away. Hannah had to stay behind to heal from the surgery and so Jacob went with his son in the helicopter.
The baby began having seizures when he arrived at the hospital and the doctors back at the local hospital confirmed Hannah had suffered from placental abruption.
Urias was now in the NICU and was diagnosed with Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen and blood, and would most likely have cerebral palsy. “You could probably expect seizures most of his life. He may never be able to feed himself. He may never be able to walk… may never be able to talk,” Jacob said.
The doctors said there was little hope and gave them only a 40% chance that he would make it because of his severe condition. “I can’t control anything but I can trust God. I don’t feel it like some emotional thing. It was a determination and a commitment I’m gonna trust God,” declared the faithful father.
The baby kept having seizures despite medication, but later that night, his eyes opened and Jacob attended to him, along with the nurse, and prayed to God to heal his son. “I just remembered: don’t be afraid. Believe only,” Jacob said.
Nurse, Latricia Bell, testified of the miracle she witnessed with baby Urias John. “I felt such a warmth. Every hair on my body stood up. I knew that I was in the presence of God. He was right there at that moment. I looked at the monitors and there was no more seizures. That was the end of it!” she exclaimed.
Also, that night the couple asked their church and their friends and family to pray for Uriah. “If God’s Word says we speak and we believe… Then I’m gonna speak and I’m gonna believe,” declared Jacob.
Uriah’s condition greatly improved over the next few days, and on the sixth day, he was breathing on his own and he was cleared to go home three weeks later.
A year later, Uriah has hit all his developmental milestones despite the negative report given to his parents during his birth. The neurologist said, “I’ve only had a couple other cases where people made a full recovery. And I’m just telling you he’s one of them.” Today, Uriah is a healthy, energetic, happy little boy they prayed for.
What an amazing story of the healing and deliverance power of God witnessed by the medical staff and the parents of Uriah. Let us keep this family in our prayers and believe God for the complete healing of baby Uriah.
