One moment, Taylor Hale was a typical teenage girl roughhousing with friends. The next moment, she was in a coma, suffering from a brain injury. However, this is not the story of a young girl whose life was cut short. On the contrary, this is the story of one young woman’s miraculous journey from comatose to college-bound.

On September 11, 2011, 14-year-old Taylor went to a high school football game and then to a friend’s house. Joking around, she sat on the hood of her friend’s car as he slowly reversed out of the driveway. She slipped off and landed on the pavement. Sadly, Taylor was knocked unconscious. That night, doctors diagnosed Taylor with a traumatic brain injury and placed her into an induced coma to allow her brain to heal better. Six days later, young Taylor had a brain hemorrhage. The doctors told Taylor’s family that she would probably pass away very soon, so her parents made arrangements to have her pulled off life support.

Then, something incredible happened. Dr. Jeff Stickel, a family friend, felt moved to visit Taylor and pray for her. He stood over her, and simply prayed for her healing and recovery. Miraculously, within hours, Taylor started breathing on her own. By the end of the day, she was even blinking her eyes and mumbling. (1)

Was this a miracle set in motion by prayer, or was this good luck and coincidental timing?

Recovering From a Brain Injury

Brain injury is usually a result of severe trauma to the head caused by a sharp object entering the brain or the head violently hitting an object. If a person suffers from a severe traumatic brain injury, like Taylor’s, there is little that doctors can do to heal it. When a person experiences brain death, specifically, they are in a persistent vegetative state and lack many independent survival functions. Once doctors believe that a patient may be certifiably brain dead, they discuss the discontinuation of life support and organ donation with the patient’s family. Amazingly, Taylor’s family had actually reached this point, and even discussed organ donation with their physicians. Yet, astoundingly, she woke up and resumed her life. (1, 2, 3, 4)

The Science of Prayer

Scientific research on whether prayer, in fact, heals is difficult to conduct and prove. Many people question if answered prayers are the placebo effect or optimism in action. However, scientists continue to research the phenomenon of answered prayers. Researchers conducted one experiment on infertile women. They discovered that the women who had been prayed for were twice as likely to conceive as those who had not been prayed for. To minimize the possibility of the placebo effect, scientists also conducted research on injured baby primates. After four weeks, the group that had been prayed for had smaller wounds than those who had not been prayed for. Some people view prayer as a form of meditation, and research does suggest that meditation has healing effects, including lowering blood pressure, boosting the immune system, reducing pain, easing anxiety, and much more. (5)

Taylor’s Miracle

Whether you believe that prayer has healing effects, or you prefer to think of prayer as a form of meditation, there is no denying that people all over the world pray for healing. Taylor was minutes from death. Yet, one man led a prayer for her, and she fully recovered. Taylor Hale woke up from her coma and went on to experience the joys, sorrows, and miracles of life.