BAY CITY -- Last April, we introduced you to an eleven year old boy who was convinced God would cure him of his cancer. NBC 25's Kathy Hoekstra has the conclusion as we continue our "healed by faith" series.
This past spring, 11 year old Gabe Walther told his parents and everyone else God would cure him of his ewing's sarcoma by thanksgiving. "i think god will eventually come through and do a miracle and cure me."
His mother did not doubt Gabe's faith. "He said to the doctor 'when god heals me next fall.' the doctor just looked down and i said, 'you're right... that's right."
Well, it's next fall. Gabe's at a new school, and something else is new. He's cancer free. He remembers when his doctor gave him the news. "She said there was no mass there and it looked really good and it was gone."
Through the ordeal, Gabe never slowed down. "I just kept doing my sports and activities and doing stuff with my friends."
His principal says gabe kept going even when he was "supposed" to take it easy. "That's not easy for Gabe to do. There was one day when two students were kind of arguing, and Gabe, without even thinking twice, jumped right in the middle and calmed the guys down and it was just something."
Gabe and his family made many trips to the University of Michigan Hospital for treatment. But again, Gabe says prayer saved even more trips.. A couple of times, his temperature spiked to more than one-hundred, which normally means an automatic ambulance ride to Ann Arbor.
Not for Gabe. "So.. i said an our father and 3 hail mary's to padre pio and my fever went down in a matter of 15 minutes."
Padre Pio was a priest in Italy whom many believe cured people during his life, and continues to do so through prayer.
"I know that prayer can be answered directly and prayer does also change people's hearts. So in both ways i think he's been really blessed to have an amazing prayer life."
A prayer life that will stop only when Gabe does, and that's not anytime soon. Especially not on Thanksgiving.
"I thank God for everything I have. I say morning prayers and I thank Him for everything that I have and I thank Him for helping me through this and helping me get cured.
| Ewing's sarcoma / Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumours (PNET) of bone is a type of cancer usually found in children and young adults. The peak incidence is between ages 10 and 20, it is less common in children under 5 or in adults over 30. Ewing's s can occur in any bone in the body; the most common sites are the pelvis, thigh, lower leg, upper arm, and rib. The tumour is composed of small round blue cells. Ewing's sarcoma can also arise in soft tissue (extra-skeletal); see Soft Tissue Sarcoma in this guide. For more information visit CancerIndex.org |
