BREAKING: Baby Joseph is home: defies critics by breathing completely on his own

LifeSiteNews ^ | 4/21/11 | Rebecca Millette

[wagglebee]

Baby Joseph with his father Moe Maraachli
early this morning as they head home to Windsor, Canada.

WINDSOR, Ontario, April 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Baby Joseph and his family arrived in Windsor, Ontario on a medical transport flight from St. Louis, Missouri this morning. He is now at the family home, according to Brother Paul O’Donnell.

On behalf of Baby Joseph’s family, Brother O’Donnell told LifeSiteNews that that their son was weaned off ventilator support 12 days ago and has been successfully breathing on his own since then.

Baby Joseph, who has been at the center of an international right-to-life debate over the past few months, has defied critics by responding so well to treatment. After the Ontario hospital treating Joseph’s progressive and terminal neurological disease threatened to remove his life support against his parents’ wishes earlier this year, pro-life groups rallied to Joseph’s cause.

With the financial support and assistance of Father Frank Pavone and Priests for Life, Joseph was taken to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri where doctors performed the tracheotomy that Joseph’s parents had been requesting all along.

Sixteen-month-old Baby Joseph received a successful tracheotomy on March 21, responding well to the procedure, which gave him increased mobility and comfort while providing a stable, secure airway. With the tracheotomy, which created an opening into Joseph’s windpipe through an incision in his neck, Joseph’s airway has been kept free from secretions that would have caused him to choke.

Dr. Robert Wilmott, Chief of Pediatrics for SSM Cardinal Glennon and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said Joseph has been breathing so well on his own there will be no need to take him to a local rehabilitation hospital and he can be transported to Ontario.

“Joseph has been breathing on his own, without the aid of a mechanical ventilator, for more than a week,” Wilmott said. “By providing him with this common palliative procedure, we’ve given Joseph the chance to go home and be with his family after spending so much of his young life in the hospital.”

Meanwhile, Joseph’s parents and 7-year-old brother, who have spent more than a month in St. Louis, have expressed their extreme gratitude to all who have made it possible to save the life of their son.

“So many people from the United States and Canada and all around the world have reached out, sent letters and called my family to let us know they were praying for us and thinking about us,” Joseph’s father Moe Maraachli said. “This has really helped our family through this hard time, to know there is so much kindness in the world.”

“We are so grateful for the amazing care and compassion we have received from the doctors, nurses and staff of Cardinal Glennon. Our family also wants to thank the team at Windsor Regional Hospital for reaching out to our family and Dr. Wilmott and making the transfer back home a reality.”

Commending the staff at Cardinal Glennon, Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life said Joseph has defied so many critics.

“Our mission to save Baby Joseph and help his family was never based on any prediction of the future, but rather on the value of his life here and now. Our critics, on the other hand, looking into the crystal ball that ‘right to die’ advocates seem to always think they have, claimed our intervention was futile because Joseph would only end up having a machine do his breathing for him,” said Fr. Pavone.

“We don’t have to answer their criticism; Joseph is doing that for us, with every breath he takes,” continued Fr. Pavone. “Baby Joseph’s victory over the culture of death is especially powerful now, as we prepare for Easter, a time when Christians everywhere celebrate Jesus’ victory over death.”

“Priests for Life is happy and humbled to have played a small part in making this joyous day possible. We ask everyone to join us as we continue to pray for Baby Joseph and his family.”

[FroggyTheGremlim]

"ANYTHING is possible, even the impossible."

Far be it from me to recommend anything to God, but in this case, I am praying as hard as I can for Him to work a MIRACLE and allow Baby Joseph to recover completely, survive his affliction, and grow up to establish medical treatments and a cure for those judged by governments and bureaucrats as "brain dead."

[wagglebee]

More than anything, this case has demonstrated that those pushing to limit "futile care" often don't have a clue what they are talking about.

[AHerald]

This one's for you, Terri!

Amen. Thanks for the reminder. Love that you posted that pic of her. May God rest her soul, and the soul of her father.

[wagglebee]

For several years now I have posted on the Terri Dailies threads the recounting of the horrific last two weeks of March that we endured six years ago.

This year, as that time approached I had a very real sense of dread that Baby Joseph's murder would coincide with those thirteen days.

Thankfully, and with our Lord's guidance, Father Frank Pavone was able to take what he learned from Terri's murder and used it to save Baby Joseph. He didn't hold press conferences, he didn't pander to the leftist media, he simply went to Canada and rescued Baby Joseph.

A short time later we were told that the tracheotomy had been successful and a few days after that we learned that, at the request of his parents, Baby Joseph had been baptized.

It is truly fitting that on this Holy Thursday, as we reflect on our Lord's Passion, Crucifixion and triumphant Resurrection, that we also learn that Baby Joseph has been able to return home.

[Yaelle]

Everyone has value. Not for their usefulness to others but for their value to the Almighty now. G-d bless this little boy.

[DCBryan1]

...and Lord, please cure Baby Joseph, show the world a miracle! I believe! Amen!

[RnMomof7]

Wag..I am so happy for this baby and his family...This baby will have time to be a real baby in his own home..to have a buggy walk and lay in the sun..

I believe that the Canadian hospital knew that Joseph could survive with a trac... but the issue was $$$$ how much more care would the child need and at what cost to the FREE medical system...

How much is a baby in his dads arms worth???

God bless all that made this possible..

[AuH2ORepublican]

God bless Father Frank and God bless that precious child!

[trisham]

I have a pretty good idea what methods the deathbots would employ to keep nurse/patient ratios at the optimal level.

*******************************

Yes, I think we might all suspect what those might be.

[trisham]

Beautifully said!

[trisham]

Well said. Thank you!

[trisham]

More than anything, this case has demonstrated that those pushing to limit "futile care" often don't have a clue what they are talking about.

********************************************

Yes, that may be the most important thing that we have learned from this case; the other may be the necessity of action. Father Pavone made a giant leap in strategy when he simply flew to Baby Joseph's bedside.

[wagglebee]

Yes, the lesson of not letting this play out in the media like Terri's murder did is just as valuable.

The average person has NO CLUE who Baby Joseph is and that may be the reason he's alive today.

[trisham]

Yes, the lesson of not letting this play out in the media like Terri's murder did is just as valuable.

The average person has NO CLUE who Baby Joseph is and that may be the reason he's alive today.

**************************************

Yes, and how ironic is that? I remember thinking when Jeb Bush became involved that something would be done, but what a disappointment!

It was a cruel lesson, but thank God for Father Pavone! He learned it well.

[NYer]

Awesome news, especially on Holy Thursday. Fr. Frank Pavone was interviewed this morning on FOX NEWS. Here is the transcript:

---

What a Great Way to Celebrate Easter!

Father Pavone was interviewed this morning on Fox News as Baby Joseph Maraachli was flown home to Canada.

The 15-month-old was transferred from a hospital in London, Ontario, last month because doctors there ruled that to continue to treat his neurological disease was futile, and courts agreed. Plans were in the works to disconnect the breathing tube that was helping him breathe, and to let him die.

Just over a month later, the boy has received the tracheotomy his parents sought and is breathing on his own.

“We knew when he was in Canada…he was mostly breathing on his own,” Father Pavone told Fox News’ Gretchen Carlson this morning. He said the tracheotomy that ultimately was performed at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis “was not extraordinary treatment,’ and had “a high probability of success.”

Father Pavone, who has remained in close contact with Baby Joseph’s parents, Moe and Sana Maraachli, said the parents are excited to be bringing the baby home.

“This is all they wanted,” he said, “to be able to bring him home and care for him for as much time as God gives them together.”

Father Pavone said the family’s tenacity should help empower other families to battle medical bureaucracies, and should encourage pro-life efforts on every front.

“This case should help families to stand up and fight hard,” he said. To pro-lifers, he said, “stay engaged in the pro-life effort because we have more victories to win.”

Baby Joseph, the child of a Muslim father and Catholic mother, was baptized Catholic last month. His transfer home took place on Holy Thursday, just three days before Christians celebrate Jesus’ victory over death.

“Today’s outcome is better than expected,’ Father Pavone said. “What a great way to celebrate Easter.”

[Lesforlife]

Amen, my friends!! He is Risen Indeed!!

[hinckley buzzard]

The killing of Terri Schaivo was a dark day and a low point in the history of American culture. For a tragic moment we enacted the foul doctrine of Lebens unwertes Leben.

Just recall the rancid negativity and pessimism of the pro-death cynics even here at FR, and compare to the response to this act of honor and righteousness by Priests for Life.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“Do you know what loss of brain stem function is?
Please go back to medical school.
The baby needs a ventilator to breathe. Quit fudging the facts.”

So, kaila, where did YOU go to medical school? We are all praising the Lord for Baby Joseph’s significant improvement toward recovery.

On a secondary comment, archieved coments can be a b_____.

[tioga]

God is good.

Obviously, those who judged Baby Joseph as hopeless were WRONG...which is why we should value life for all.

[Sun]

Such wonderful, beautiful news!

Let’s keep praying for Baby Joseph.