It’s a crazy world we live in. Every day, all over the world, destruction, sickness, and sadness are reported to an audience of people who, whilst feeling for the afflicted, choose to do nothing about these tragedies: besides maybe pray.

Now, I understand that there may be a few naysayers out there amongst our readers, but I trust that by the end of this story, you may have a different opinion about the positive power of prayer…

Featured photo credit: www.godupdates.com

Simple Life

31-Year-old Grayson was, like many of his peers in this day and age, living at home and working on his parent’s farm. It was a simple life, driving the tractor and combine, and having his evenings free to do whatever he wanted, but he liked it.

Leisure Time

One of Grayson’s leisure time activities was participating in the amateur demolition derby that was the Mid-Atlantic Power Festival in Ruckersville, Virginia. The few times he had done it before, he’d come out without a scratch on him: though the same could never be said for the car. At this festival, though, something changed…

Thrown Out

Accidents happen, especially when one participates in a demolition derby. Grayson was driving with one of his friends when he suddenly felt a sudden rush of momentum. From that moment on, he didn’t remember a thing. Possibly because the car flipped and Grayson was thrown out and smashed hard into the dirt.

Dead on Arrival

There were emergency crews standing by, as they always were, but that didn’t really matter for poor Grayson, who wasn’t breathing when they ran over to him. He was airlifted to University of Virginia Medical Center.  He stabilized though, as best he could, and his parents were called…

The News

Grayson’s parents, Karen and Wayne, were frantically making their way out of the house and towards the university hospital in Virginia when they stopped for a second. Wayne held his wife and told her that before they get into whatever it is they were about to get into, they should pray. They asked God to help give them the strength to face the unknown.

Barely Alive

When they were finally allowed into Grayson’s room, they were treated to the sight of their son hooked up to countless machines. They were necessary though, because it was only by the grace of those machines that he was still alive. The doctors told them that there was a less than five percent chance he’d live, and even if he did, he would suffer severe brain trauma…

It’ll Take a Miracle

It took four hours for doctors to stabilize him and while he was on the table, he died twice. As they sat in his room, watching their son slowly perish, the doctors warned them that it would take nothing short of a miracle for him to make it through the next few days. “Doc,” said Wayne Kirby. “We believe in miracles. We’re on it!”

Severe Injuries

There were a number of pretty good reasons that the doctors believed Grayson might not survive the horrific accident. Nearly every bone in his body had been crushed, broken, or bruised. His liver was punctured, his kidneys were shutting down, and he couldn’t breathe on his own because both lungs had collapsed.

Hope Lives On

Grayson Kirby’s family and friends were not about to give up hope that he would return to them. Somehow they knew that the more people who prayed for their Grayson, the better his chances might be. So they formed a Facebook page and asked everyone they could find to pray for him. The response was overwhelming.

Joined in Prayer

Michelle Ciucci, a family friend and hairdresser, was among those who came aboard to pray for Grayson. “His Facebook page had like 8,600 followers and they’ve all prayed hard for him.” she explained. And as amazing as the thousands of prayers were, they were nothing compared to the dozens of fundraisers that seemed to follow soon after…

Lemonade Stand

Michelle’s son Sheldan had told his mother that he wanted to help the Kirby family in some way. He was young but he knew that the best thing he could do for them now, besides praying of course, was to see if they could make some money to minimize the mounting medical expenses. To that end, he built a good, old-fashioned lemonade stand.

More Funds Raised

Sheldan was amazed by the amount of customers he had at the stand, he made hundreds from it. Next came haircut fundraisers, cupcake sales, quilts, t-shirts, and handbags: all of them inspired by Grayson and used to not only raise money, but to inspire hope. With each added donation, each person made aware of the Kirby’s problem, more prayers got added to the page…

Power of Faith

On June 17, ten days after he had fallen into a coma and sat on the brink of death, Grayson Kirby opened his eyes. A few days later and he was able to mouth the words, “I love you,” to his father. At that moment, the Kirby’s knew that they were going to be ok. The power of faith had helped them through it.

10 Days

Grayson stayed at the University of Virginia Hospital for another six weeks after that. He had a long way to go in his rehabilitation, but it seemed like he would make a full recovery. The thing of it was, as miraculous as it appeared, the doctors couldn’t seem to find a way to explain how he had recovered so quickly or completely…

Bewildered by a Miracle

Like any mom, Karen Kirby believed that it was her son being “a special kid” that contributed to his recovery. As for Grayson himself, he has come out as saying he is bewildered by how much of a miracle it is that he’s still here. Grayson is thankful for all the support, the donations, and of course, the prayers.

Full Recovery

Before he could go home, Grayson was transferred to Sheltering Arms Hospital for more rehabilitation. He is expected to make a full recovery. He even hopes to be back working on the family farm with his father soon enough. Still, he has a rather long way to go before that’s possible…

Long Road

Currently, Grayson is undergoing physical therapy twice a week, working his lower extremities. Walking has been hard for him, mainly because he has no feeling in his lower legs and feet. When he’s not there, he’s doing what he can to help his father on the farm. He’s even been able to drive the tractor a bit.

Unexplainable

Doctors have still been unable to explain what happened in Grayson’s case, but they certainly plan to study it. In the meantime, as he recovers, Grayson has taken to social media and has agreed to appear on television to show the world the amazing power of prayer. He was recently on Steve Harvey to talk about it…

On TV

Grayson Kirby’s miraculous story has touched the lives of people around the world. He told the amazing tale on the Steve Harvey show to a national television audience of believers and nonbelievers alike. To date, they have heard from people in Germany, Korea, Ireland, ad Australia, sending their prayers.

Restored Faith

Whether you believe in God or not, this story is definitely one that can restore even the most wavering of faiths. I submit that even if you don’t believe that prayer saved Grayson’s life, you can still believe in the power of the human spirit, in humanity coming together to help one another in times of need.