[Magdalen] Prayer Request, serious and urgent

[Jay Weigel]

Please pray for Joey, a young man I have known all his life, and for his
family. This is his sister's Facebook post that was relayed to me by a
friend (I can't for the life of me think how his sister and I aren't
Facebook friends, but anyway):

"It is with an extremely heavy heart that I write this post. Joey is in
ICU. He has had 4 massive strokes. His heart has a growth on it that is
spitting clots out all over his body. He has significant brain damage and
his brain is swelling. His kidneys have shut down. He is on the ventilator.
Please be in prayer for him and our family, especially his parents Melinda
Hanna and Mike Hanna. Decisions must be made that no parent should have to
make. Thanks to everyone that has checked on him and prayed."

I am stunned and heartbroken. Melinda was a friend of my next door
neighbor, and Joey's older sister is the same age as Adam. Melinda and I
were pregnant together with Joey and Betsy. Joey was born first, a big
husky redhead who was as calm and placid as Betsy was petite and active.
Adam and Allison played together as toddlers, and once they were old
enough, Betsy and Joey joined them. The kids all went to the same schools
until Betsy went off to Catholic high school in Knoxville. They weren't
close after graduation but their lives touched now and then. I saw Allison
at Adam's funeral but didn't get a chance to talk to her much. Betsy did,
and she said today when I told her that Allison had said Joey wasn't doing
too well.

It sounds as if Joey will not be coming out of this, and that even if he
lives, his life will be seriously diminished. Please pray for him and for
his family and for the decisions they will have to make in the next few
hours and days.