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Joe Cronin, a Life in the Balance: Urgent Prayer and Action Needby charliej373 |
(The Sacrifice of Isaac – by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo)
By Charlie Johnston
Today’s post is an urgent appeal, both for prayer and for action. A 12-year-old boy’s life is at stake. He is young Joe Cronin. I have not vetted all the information here, but I print it anyway because the need is urgent and time is very short.
On Jan. 14th, Joe had a severe asthma attack, which left him in a coma. He is at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas. Last Friday, doctors tried to declare him brain dead so they could take him off life support. But he passed the Brain Death test…he is not brain dead. Medical staff at Driscoll’s are not impressed. They are determined to take
Young Joe Croninthis boy off life support. They have informed the family that they will test again on Friday, and continue until they get a reading which will support their preference. The parents’ only hope at this point is to find a facility that will take Joe and give him a chance to live. And they need to get it done by Friday.
This is not unprecedented. You may recall from last June the 13-year-old Oakland, California girl, Jahi McMath, who was at a secular children’s hospital that insisted she was functionally dead, that moving her would not make any difference; that her organs would soon shut down and her heart stop regardless of what was done with her. Thanks be to God, St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Jersey agreed to care for her and give her a chance to live instead of justifying why they must let her die. Young Jahi is still there, her heart and organs still plugging along despite the confident assurance of the California doctors that it was not possible.
I am going to ask you to do two things: First, give Driscoll Children’s Hospital a call at (361) 694-5000 and ask them to reconsider. Second, check with any religious based hospitals in your area that might be willing to give this boy a chance to live. Please send me any positive information you can to my email box with the title, “Joe Cronin.” Those will immediately go to the top of the list. I have access to the parents and a friend of theirs. If you are with a news organization, send me a note and I will put you into direct contact with the family.
This is the only thing I am going to put up today. Let us take action NOW to rescue this child.
ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO DEEP 
God bless you, your excellency, for highlighting this crisis in your diocese. I was going to send you a note tonight about it. If you send me an email note, I will give you the Mother’s phone number. Oh, may we resolve to protect life rather than to toss it away. My public email address is chrljhnstn@gmail.com.