Man makes “miraculous” recovery from brain death after accident

How many organs are harvested early? This is from Catholic News Agency

Oklahoma City, Mar 27, 2008 / 05:58 am (CNA).- A young man who was injured in an all-terrain-vehicle accident woke from his coma and showed signs of life just minutes before he was to be disconnected from life support, Dateline NBC reports.

Zack Dunlap suffered a broken collarbone, multiple skull fractures, and “absolutely catastrophic” brain injuries when his four-wheeled off-road vehicle flipped over.

After tests revealed no blood flow to Dunlap’s brain, doctors determined he met the legal and medical requirements for declaring someone brain-dead.

Dunlap’s family decided to remove him from life support, and a medical team prepared to harvest Dunlap’s organs for donation. Oklahoma authorities were informed of his death, while friends and family were told to gather at the hospital to say their goodbyes.

Dunlap’s grandmother, Naomi Blackford, went in and prayed for him. She said to Dateline NBC that she was asking for “Just a miracle. That he was too young for God to take him. It wasn't time.”

Dunlap’s cousin Christie Coffin, a nurse, said, “I sat there and I just said to him, ‘Zack, if you're in there, if you can hear me, ask God to help you.’ And I mean it probably wasn't 10 minutes later, I started getting this different feeling in my gut. And I thought, ‘he's not ready.’”

Another cousin who is also a nurse, Dan Coffin, thought the monitor recording Dunlap’s vital signs showed signs of improvement. On a hunch he pulled out his pocketknife and scraped Dunlap’s foot from his heel to his toes.

Dunlap jerked his foot, but the attending hospital nurse believed it was only a reflex. Dan Coffin then stuck his fingernail beneath Dunlap’s fingernail, which provoked a purposeful movement, a sign of brain activity.

Doctors immediately resumed medical treatment. Dunlap opened his eyes after five days, and was taken off a ventilator two days later.

The following week Dunlap began responding to his neurosurgeon and spoke his first words to his parents. Dunlap’s mother, Pam, said, “He looked around, and he said, ‘I love you’.”

He began taking steps later that day.

Dunlap’s trauma surgeon said he had no medical explanation for his recovery, and said all procedures were followed.

Doctors insisted the tests administered to Dunlap were accurate, and said the hospital would have detected his renewed vital signs before any organs were harvested.

Forty-eight days after being declared dead, Dunlap returned home, where Dan Coffin presented him with the pocketknife that proved he was still alive.

“I had heard of miracles all my life. But I had never seen a miracle. But I have seen a miracle. I've got proof of it,” said Dunlap’s grandmother.

“We both feel that God has some big plan for Zack. We'll do everything in our power to help him pursue it -- whatever it is,” said Dunlap’s mother, Pam.

Dunlap said he did not remember the accident, but he does remember the doctor declaring him dead. “I heard it and it just made me mad inside,” he said.

Amal Moorad, medical director of the Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Hospital in Oklahoma City where Dunlap recuperated, explained the patient’s prognosis. “Anytime you have severe brain injury, you'll never be the same again from a mental, emotional standpoint,” he said.

“Zack will be very close to normal, but not 100 percent, and only time will tell us.”

Dunlap has resolved to pursue fishing. “No more 4-wheeling,” he told Dateline NBC.

Zack Dunlap's interview on Dateline NBC can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4syekkzT0po

True liturgical reform must avoid “wild liturgy,” Cardinal Arinze explains

The following was found at the Catholic News Agency web site.

Nairobi, Mar 19, 2008 / 02:33 am (CNA).- Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Church’s “liturgist-in-chief,” recently made a speech at an African university in which he criticized liturgical abuses and protested Masses where the recklessly innovative priests act as “Reverend Showman”.

The Nigerian-born Cardinal Arinze, who is Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, was in Kenya to conduct a workshop and a retreat on liturgy for the bishops, according to CISA. While he was at the Catholic University of East Africa, the cardinal delivered a public lecture in which he discussed the importance of following liturgical rubrics and the proper place of inculturation in the liturgy.

The cardinal discussed sentiments that cause errors in worship, such as regarding everyone as an expert in liturgy, extolling spontaneity and creativity to the detriment of approved rites and prayers, seeking immediate popular applause or enjoyment, and ignoring approved liturgical texts.

He said that liturgical abuses were often due to an ignorance that rejects elements of worship whose deeper meaning is not understood or whose antiquity is not recognized.

Cardinal Arinze clarified the nature of the reforms of Vatican II, saying they must be seen as continuous with the past rather than as a dramatic break. “The Catholic Church is the same before and after Vatican II. It isn’t another Church,” he said.

Check out the rest of the article :)

Future in Latin

Dr. Edward Peters has posted this on his blog

This from Tore Janson, A Natural History of Latin (Oxford, 2004) at 122: "Thanks to the work of many generations of paleographers and textual critics we now have all the ancient texts in printed editions which are both easy to read and more correct than any of the surviving manuscripts. This is not, however, the case with texts from the Middle Ages, since there are many more of them [i.e., 100,000s] and they have attracted much less interest from Latin specialists. Many of them, even ones that are well worth reading, have been published using only one manuscript that happened to be to hand, even though much better manuscripts may exist. Many more texts have not been published at all, but are waiting in libraries for someone to read them and prepare an edition. There is a limitless amount of valuable work waiting to be done by those who would like to devote themselves to Latin and the Middle Ages."

Think about it. +++

Read more about it: Dr. Peters' Ecclesiastical Latin pages

Who says there's no future in Latin?

ADAM'S ALE: BLOGARIANS? BLOGITES? BLOGISTS? BLOGISM?

Many of you have an idea about heresies in the church,

Check this out about some of the new heresies.

ADAM'S ALE: BLOGARIANS? BLOGITES? BLOGISTS? BLOGISM?

Planned Parenthood Fraud

According to an article in provided by the Catholic News Agency tells the story about fraud that has cheated tax payers out of millions of dollars each year.

Los Angeles, Mar 11, 2008 / 05:30 am (CNA).- A federal whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Planned Parenthood executive alleges that nine affiliates in California knowingly engaged in a criminal plot to defraud millions of dollars from state and federal taxpayers over a period of at least six years, the California Catholic Daily reports.

According to one of the allegations, Planned Parenthood used its charitable statues to purchase contraceptives and other medicine at a discount rate. It then billed the state health program for twelve or more times the purchase price. The alleged malfeasance cost taxpayers perhaps more than $10 million per year.

Check out the whole article.

give2thetroops

Thought I'd let everyone know about this website that I found today. Oftentimes our troops spend a great deal of time without a lot of contact from home. If you are able to offer your support, please do so. If you know a military member who is deployed, take some time to let them know about give2thetroops.org so they might get a care package for themselves, or their comrades.


Here is the link

Come Home to the Catholic Church

I realize that several other Catholic Blogs have made reference to this video, but it is worth sharing for those who have not seen it



If you know someone who has strayed from the church you might send them to the web site

Speaking of the Medal of Honor

Did you know that in the last 100 years, four chaplains have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroism when serving our Armed Forces? All four of these chaplains are Catholic Priests. One served during World War II while the other three received their MOH during the Vietnam Conflict. One of these Fr. Vincent Capodanno is also being considered for sainthood.

This is from Fr. Capodanno's Medal of Honor citation.

Medal of Honor citation of Lieutenant Vincent P. Capoddano

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Chaplain of the 3rd Battalion, in connection with operation against enemy forces. In response to reports that the 2nd Platoon of M Company was in danger of being overrun by a massed enemy assaulting force, Lt. Capodanno left the relative safety of the company command post and ran through an open area raked with fire, directly to the beleaguered platoon, disregarding the intense enemy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded. When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and, with calm vigor, continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant marines. Upon encountering a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of an enemy machine gunner positioned approximately 15 yards away, Lt. Cappodano rushed a daring attempt to aid and assist the mortally wounded corpsman. At that instant, only inches from his goal, he was struck down by a burst of machine gun fire. By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capoddano upheld the finest traditions of the U. S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.

You can find out more about the other priests by checking out the Catholic War Veterans web site.

Please continue to pray for our men and women in the Armed Forces, and the chaplains who serve them. You can find out more about supporting our Catholic military members at the web site for "Catholics in the Military"

Korean War Hero Receives Posthumous Medal of Honor

You never know what I might find to post here. Being in the Air Force Reserve, and a native of South Dakota, I felt this was something to make known :)

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By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008 – President Bush today presented the Medal of Honor to the family of the late Army Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble, the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the nation’s highest military award, for heroism during the Korean War.

Keeble, a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, was honored during the presentation ceremony at the White House for risking his life to save his fellow soldiers during the final allied offensive in Korea.

When war broke out in Korea, Keeble was a 34-year-old master sergeant serving with the 24th Division’s 1st Platoon, Company G, 19th Infantry Regiment. He’d joined the North Dakota National Guard in 1942 and already had earned the first of his four Purple Hearts and his first Bronze Star for actions on Guadalcanal.

Keeble volunteered to go to Korea, saying that “somebody had to teach those kids how to fight,” Bush said today. “And that’s what he did,” serving as a mentor, teacher and legend to his soldiers, he said.

The division was serving in central Korea in October 1951 when it was called to take a series of mountains protecting a major enemy supply in the town of Kumsong. Operation Nomad-Polar was the last major United Nations offensive of the war.

U.S. casualties mounted as enemy soldiers barraged them, fortified by three pillboxes containing machine guns during ferocious fighting over a six-day span. Keeble’s officers had all fallen, so he continued the assault with three platoons under his leadership.

Despite extensive injuries himself, with 83 grenade fragments in his body, Keeble defied the medics and took matters into his own hands. On Oct. 20, 1951, he charged the hill solo. Armed only with grenades and his Browning automatic rifle, he shimmied across the ridge, singlehandedly eliminating one pillbox after another as he dodged a barrage of enemy fire.

“As Woody first started off, someone saw him and remarked, ‘Either he’s the bravest soldier I have ever met, or he’s crazy,’” Bush said at today’s ceremony, eliciting laughter. “When Woody was through, all 16 enemy soldiers were dead, the hill was taken, and the Allies had won the day.”

Only after Keeble had taken out all three pillboxes and killed the machine gunners did he order his troops to advance and secure the hill.

“Woody Keeble’s act of heroism saved many American lives and earned him a permanent place in his fellow soldiers’ hearts,” the president said.

His actions set an example, not just for his own soldiers, but for the ages, Bush said. “If we honor his life and take lessons from his good and noble service, then Master Sergeant Woody Keeble will serve his country once again,” he said.

Although every surviving member of his unit signed a letter at the time recommending Keeble for the Medal of Honor, the paperwork was lost twice, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross instead. Keeble was honorably discharged from the Army in 1953, always maintaining his Army ties and championing veterans and their causes.

Keeble’s family took up the battle to upgrade his award to the Medal of Honor. Today, Russell Hawkins, Keeble’s stepson, accepted the award on his behalf, almost six decades after his gallant actions and 26 years after his death.

Bush apologized today for the long-overdue presentation of the award and thanked those who had pressed for it. “I want to thank you for carrying Woody’s banner to the Pentagon and to the halls of Congress,” he told them. “You did the right thing.”

“We are just proud to be a part of this for Woody,” Hawkins said in a statement released by the Army when the White House announced in February that Keeble would receive the award. “He is deserving of this, for what he did in the armed services in defense of this country.”

Hawkins called the presentation a victory not just for his family, who had pressed to see him honored, but also for the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe and North and South Dakota. “We are all extremely proud that Woody is finally receiving this honor,” Hawkins said. “He epitomized our cultural values of humility, compassion, bravery, strength and honor.”

(Carrie McLeRoy of the Army News Service contributed to this article.)