Paragraph Farmer needing prayers

Via Julie at Happy Catholic, some bad news about Patrick O’ Hannigan and his daughter*:

Jane and I were in a serious car accident yesterday morning. Thomas (son) and Cathleen (wife) were not with us at the time. I sustained only bruising and some deep lacerations to my left elbow, so I was discharged from the emergency room late yesterday afternoon.

Jane was ejected from my vehicle and suffered head trauma. She is still in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Jane has been mostly unconscious since the accident. We do have some good news in that doctors say there is no damage to her spine. She was also able to squeeze my hand with hers last night. A plastic surgery team stitched up her head wound, but brain swelling remains an issue, so we’re not out of the woods. Neighbors and friends have been wonderful. Thomas just took over all the pet chores that are normally mine.

We’ll take all the prayers we can get. We want to storm heaven on Jane’s behalf.

Storm heaven, indeed. Please pray for Jane, and for all victims of brain injury or brain illness, and for their families. When a family member has a severe brain circumstance it is a very heavy burden for all, as my own family well-knows. And it is incredibly frightening for the victim. I have volunteered throughout the years as a pastoral visitor in hospitals, and somehow I usually was assigned the brain-injuries. I will never forget the things I saw and learned there, or the rather youngish (mid-40’s) man who suffered an accident that left him without speech and very confused. One day, wordless, he just wept and wept in my arms, and I could sense all of his helpless frustration, but mostly his terrible fear of what lay before him.

God bless, Patrick. You are all in our prayers, especially Jane.

*Daughter, not wife.