Mary saved our daughter's life

One night in 2017, we experienced the presence of Mary in our lives, when she saved our newborn daughter. Gabrielle was a 3-day old, seemingly healthy baby, and everything was going smoothly at home. But that evening, after dinner, as her tired mother was holding her, Gabrielle suddenly stopped breathing. I ran to the phone, feeling confused and panicky… an operator picked up the phone immediately. I gave her our address and answered a few specific questions. The person told me to alternate between cardiac massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Because of my panic, I mixed up what he told me to do with some CPR methods I had previously learned.

Gabrielle's lifeless little body was lying on the couch, wearing only a diaper. Several times, she came back to life with difficulty, but soon lost consciousness again. The voice on the phone became faint but I understood that a helicopter was on its way from Lausanne. Then Gabrielle stopped responding to stimulation. Her mother screamed. We had lost our child!

At that moment, without realizing what I was doing, I knelt down in front of Gabrielle’s body, hands joined in prayer, and started imploring the Blessed Virgin: "Mary, help us!” Was it an automatic memory of my long-forgotten Catholic upbringing? Looking back, I see a total surrender to something greater than me. I remember feeling a mighty force seizing me and enveloping me. I went back to massaging my daughter in an altered state, obeying mysterious instructions.

In no time at all the rescuers burst into our living room. They took over and put an oxygen mask on the baby. In a few seconds Gabrielle came back to life. On the way to the helicopter, one of the rescuers put a hand on my shoulder and said: "Your daughter will be okay. You did exactly the right thing!” I told him what I now fully believed: "It was Mary who saved her. We were protected!” As I said this, I was overwhelmed with emotion and collapsed sobbing.  

Laurent Deffeyes

A reader of A Moment with Mary sent us this true story that happened in Switzerland, near the city of Lausanne.