Don’t Doubt That God Loves You: Carlito’s Miracle
Everything changed when five-year-old Carlito stopped breathing…
How can this be happening? Have we lost him? Carlos and Lucile watched in a panic. Parents of a healthy son with thriving careers in the Dominican Republic, the couple never imagined this horrific moment.
It all started with Carlito getting sick, but it didn’t seem serious at first. Then pneumonia took hold and fear began to rise. But nothing could prepare them for their child’s body reacting to his pneumonia treatment with a heart attack, leading to ten agonizing minutes without him taking a breath.
By God’s grace, Carlito survived. But when he awoke, everything had changed. While deprived of oxygen, Carlito had suffered severe brain damage. Carlos and Lucile struggled to feel God’s presence as they discovered that their son scarcely responded to the world around him. They wondered what life would be like now…
Temptation to Doubt God’s Love
Over the five years following Carlito’s life-changing illness, the realities of disability hung heavily on his family. Carlito needed round-the-clock care seven days a week. His medication required 60 administrations each day and every six months his trach tube had to be replaced. Every need came with a cost, both emotional and financial.
Carlos and Lucile had to sacrifice to make ends meet. Still, the family clung to Jesus for hope and showered love on Carlito. Each day, Carlos and Lucile prayed together. They strove to make life as “normal” and bright as possible for their sons, taking Carlito outside every afternoon. And while a stranger might miss Carlito’s subtle signs, his parents recognize his enjoyment of the world around him, seeking opportunities to provide him with new experiences.
Will God Provide?
Longing to enrich Carlito’s life and find new freedom for their family, Carlos and Lucile longed to buy a wheelchair but could not afford one. So when Lucile heard that Joni and Friends planned a Wheels for the World™ outreach in Santo Domingo, her hopes rose.
Carlos, however, doubted that the right chair could be found to fit Carlito’s specific needs. The chair would need to hold him safely in place and tilt in space to accommodate Carlito’s scoliosis and rounded upper back. Putting doubt aside, the family traveled nearly three hours to see what God had in store.
When the family arrived, our Wheels for the World team, including volunteers from our North Carolina office, got to work. Our seating therapists found a wheelchair that seemed promising for Carlito, but realized several modifications would be necessary to achieve the right fit. Our volunteer mechanics rose to the challenge and began cutting, bending, attaching, and fitting various critical parts together to ensure a safe and comfortable fit for Carlito.
And as Carlos watched the team work carefully with his son, his heart began to change, brightening with hope.
More than a Wheelchair
By the time Carlito settled into his custom-fitted wheelchair, Carlos watched in amazement.
“I have never seen a wheelchair like that!” he said.
Truly, Carlito’s wheelchair is one of a kind, just like him. And more than the wheelchair, as Carlos says, his family’s experience with Joni and Friends provided fresh new hope and deepened their faith. Before taking his family home, Carlos, shared a word God put on his heart for others…
“Don’t doubt that God loves you.”
Carlos
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
Ephesians 3:16–18
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