Did A Dead Priest Save An Athlete's Life?

The Miracle Of Raising Lazarus From The Dead
Photo Source: Public Domain

Did a miracle play a part in saving the life of a college student? Many people believe this was the case. The parents of a community college student had just received word that their son had fallen on his head at pole vaulting practice. He was rushed by helicopter to the hospital and when he reached it, it was almost two hours later. When the copter landed the boy was in such bad shape that the family was asking for the last rights to be performed on him. This is something that is usually asked for if it is believed that someone is about to die. The family had now been praying for hours for help. They weren't just praying to anyone, but to a deceased chaplain who had been a hero in the Korean War. As a matter of fact the Catholic church is looking into whether to make him a saint. His name is Father Emil Kapaun and there is a prayer dedicated to him.

As the injured boy lay in the hospital, various doctors told the family that there was no hope for him and that the injuries were just too severe to survive. The boy's skull had a crack in it that ran from ear to ear. The doctors also said that his brain was swollen and that surgery to eliminate this condition would probably kill him. The boys parents and others made innumerable trips to the chapel in the hospital to pray the Father Kapaun prayer over and over. They were not accepting the fact that their son was going to die and they were convinced that the deceased priest was the one that could help him. The boy was put under the care of Doctor Grundmeyer.

Emil Kapaun was born in 1916 and died in 1951. He was raised in Pilsen, Kansas. He was ordained a Catholic Priest in 1940, just in time for World War II. He was a Chaplain at Herington Air Base in Kansas. He joined the U.S. Army in 1944 and was sent to India and served in Burma. He was promoted to Captain and discharged in 1946, but reenlisted in 1948. In 1950 he was sent to Japan. The peace didn't last for him because the month that he got to Japan, his unit was activated for war and they were sent to Korea. He spent his time there ministering to the dead and dying. The area he was in was so active that he lost his jeep and mass kit several times to enemy fire. His feet had been frozen, but this didn't stop him from going out and dragging wounded soldiers to safety, when they were being fired upon.

Father Kapaun was awarded the Bronze Star in 1950 and was captured by the enemy the very same month. Almost all of the men that came in contact with him, in the prisoner's camp, had talked about his humility, bravery and how he loved his fellow man and how kind he was to them. He helped the other prisoners pray and also helped find nourishment to keep them from starving. He just became weaker and weaker and while giving Easter Mass in the prison, found that he could no longer stand up. He was taken to the camp hospital where he died of pneumonia on May 23, 1951. One author had the following to say about Father Kapaun, "In a very definite sense, we are all beneficiaries from the life of Fr. Kapaun. He has left us a stirring example of devotion to duty. He has passed on to us a spirit of tolerance and understanding. He has given us a share of dauntless bravery -- of body and soul. He has transmitted to every one of us a new appreciation of America, and a keener, more realistic understanding of our country's greatest enemy -- godlessness, now stalking the world in the form of communism. He has bequeathed a picture of Christ-like life. What Fr. Kapaun willed to us cannot be contained in memorials, however costly or beautiful. It is a treasure for the human soul -- the spirit of one who loved and served God and man -- even unto death."

As far as the dying, critically injured boy is concerned, something happened that his doctor called a miracle. After only a few weeks this boy, that every doctor had given up on and said couldn't survive his grave injuries, walked out of the hospital with nothing more that a headache. The doctors that had seem him were all stunned, they could not figure out how he could recover from such serious injuries and how this could be done in such a short time? What power was able to heal this young man in such a fashion?

His parents knew the answer to that question. They knew it was the power of Father Kapaun interceding with God and I am sure that they believed that he was already a true saint in the eyes of God. In the Catholic Church a person can not be declared a saint until certain criteria are met. One of these criteria is having miracles performed in the name of the person being investigated for sainthood. When asked about her sons recovery, this is what his mother had to say, "(He) survived in part because hundreds of people prayed to Father Emil Kapaun to intercede on his behalf. It was absolutely a miracle."