UPDATED Oct. 27, 2009 (Jon Baggett Dec. 3, 1991- Oct. 10, 2009)
"Miracles need no explanation"... those words were found written in a family Bible used to prepare sermons by the late Rev. Harold Edwards. They are as applicable today as they were when he wrote them many years ago.
Our miracle, the one we hoped for, didn't happen. At least it didn't happen in the way we had hoped it would.
It has taken much of a month for some of us to come to grips with the fact that some miracles are either simply not meant to be, or that miracles appear in ways we may never understand.
The story of Jon Baggett's fight to conquer leukemia will remain on this page, following this update, for an indefinite period of time. He fought his fight with the disease and the complictions surrounding it secure in the knowledge that his friends and family loved and cared for him.
His passing came just over a week after his classmates at Birdville High School in suburban Fort Worth voted him Homecoming King.
The continued support shown Jon by friends from church and the high school will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it, from hospital staff to family members, who were often amazed by the number of young people who visited Jon in the hospital.
Over the six months, hundreds and hundreds of teenagers spent their weekends and other spare time in his hospital room or in a nearby waiting area to support Jon.
When they look back 20 or 30 years from now it is our hope they will understand just how much that meant to Jon's family.
Jon's journey ended, as have many others afflicted by various cancers, far earlier than it should have.
He will be remembered by family and friends who witnessed the young man's growth and faith in the Lord.
It was his faith that made his passing bearable for those he left behind.
In that same Bible that we mentioned previously in this update, there is a verse of scripture we'll leave with you. St. John 6, verse 47. "Verily, verily I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath ever-lasting life."
Jon was more than a soccer player, much more, but the pictures are on the website to remind us that soccer was the love of his athletic life.
We will remember his long curly hair, almost flattened against the wind as he raced to cut off a shot on goal.
We'll also remember his boyish smile... for that is how we wish to remember Jon, a 17-year-old who will forever remain 17 in our hearts and minds.
(The original story is below)
We know our website is about East Texas but we can’t afford for you not to meet suburban Fort Worth’s Jon Baggett and we hope you’ll be inspired by his fight with cancer.
We first saw him play soccer, his passion, in the late summer of 2008. We watched as he slid effortlessly to his left, picked off an opponent’s offensive thrust and cleared the soccer ball away from the goal keeper he was protecting.
The teenager from North Richland Hills’ had done what he had been coached to do. Jon stopped the opposition before they got a clear shot at the goal.
Summer soccer gave way to soccer in the fall of 2008 and then more soccer in the spring. As the second anniversary of his father’s passing away following a battle with cancer approached (April 13, 2007), Jon felt tired.
There were some unexplained high temperatures, his skin became somewhat pale and it was time for the always-energetic athlete to visit a doctor.
It was April 25, 2009 and the word “leukemia” flashed across phone lines from one family member to another and through our brains. Just 17, Jon was too young, too healthy… too everything to have leukemia!
His overall condition developed rapidly from being treated with chemo for the cancer, to multiple surgeries to repair ulcerated and leaking intestines, massive infections in the abdomen and more.
With family and friends holding their breath and praying, his weight fell off a cliff, sinking from 150 pounds to less than 95 before doctors could reverse the trend.
While this was going on, both his mother and one of his sisters underwent medical procedures that under normal circumstances would have held the attention of the entire family by themselves.
Days turned into weeks and months and then one day he was taken from ICU and moved into a private room at Cook’s Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.
As of August 2009 Jon is still a miracle in progress. It was only in recent days that the family was told there was a point several weeks earlier that doctors weren’t at all sure Jon would survive the surgeries.
July 26, while we visited, we saw Jon smile. The door to his room had been opened long enough for him to watch one of the young women staffing the third floor, lightly kick a soccer ball, flipping it up in the air and not too gracefully at that. There was some much needed and momentary laughter at the athletic adventure by the staff.
August 10, after much of four months in the hospital, Jon was allowed to go home to continue his recovery among friends and family.
Jon is our step-grandson and he is definitely a miracle among us. There is something we understand clearly, and that is some miracles need continued prayer and medical care.
(UPDATE)
Sept. 18, when drains in Jon's brain clogged and doctors said there was nothing else they could do, the family was told he had 24 to 48 hours remaining with us. Some of us even stopped praying for a miracle and hoped whatever was happening to him was doing so pain free.
The area in and near his room at Cook's Children's Hospital in Fort Worth was filled with family and friends, including a large group of teenagers from his church and Birdville High School where Jon would have been attending his senior year.
By the time the 24-48 hours had passed the doctors were beginning to talk about doing another brain scan to see what was going on. As Saturday slid into Sunday and then Monday and Tuesday things were improving. Why? No one knew.
Tuesday, with the amount of morphine reduced, his step father said Jon spoke a couple of words and in other ways acknowledged he understood at least some of what was going on around him.
Friends and family continue to hope for a miracle and we will periodically update this space as the situation warrants.