Every night, Ken kept watch by Daniel’s bed at the hospital, hoping and praying for a miracle–some sign that he would wake up. But weeks passed and nothing happened. The doctors prepared Ken and his wife, Nancy, for the worst: Daniel might never come back.
Though all appeared hopeless, Ken refused to give up. And on Easter Sunday, he finally got the sign he’d so desperately prayed for...
Danny was still not showing any signs of life. It was coming up to Easter. I just had this feeling that Easter was going to be special. I kept thinking, This is the holiest of holy days. This is what our faith revolves around. What better day than Easter Sunday to see something?
Any kind of sign.
I left the hospital for 9 o’clock Easter mass. I didn’t tell anyone my hopes. It felt like it was just between me and God. Nobody else knew. I went back to the hospital after church hoping to find a miracle. I was waiting, looking for a sign.
But there was no sign.
Everyone in our family was going to celebrate Easter at the hospital with us. I was sitting in the chair with Nancy next to Danny’s bed. My brother-in-law Steve and sister-in-law Debbie came to visit. We didn’t have enough chairs in the room, so I sat at the foot of the bed by Danny. At that point, no miracle had happened and I was starting to feel like nothing would.
And then, all of a sudden, I got this little poke... from Danny. I turned around, looked at him and said something a little outrageous for me:
“Did you just kick me in the butt?” Danny gave the faintest of smiles.
Everyone saw it. Nancy, Debbie and Steve. We all saw it.
Danny has always had a really good sense of humor. He was still in a coma, but that little poke was a sign that Danny was still in there. The doctors said it was impossible, that the smile was just reflexes. That Danny was too deep in a coma. But I knew my prayers were answered. I knew what I saw. And I knew that smile–a reassuring, “I’m here.”
It was the most beautiful Easter. And two weeks later, against all the doctors’ predictions, Danny woke up.
It was a long road to recovery, but today Daniel is an accomplished musician dedicated to giving back. In 2006, the Trush family started Daniel’s Music Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit that provides free music classes to anyone with a
developmental or physical disability, regardless of age. You can read more about Daniel’s miraculous story in the book Daniel’s Music.
