By John Jalsevac
ARLINGTON, VA, August 5, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The story of the heroic struggle to preserve the life of the unborn child of life-support patient Susan Torres and her husband Jason, and the miraculous birth of their baby girl, Susan Anne Catherine Torres, has unexpectedly received worldwide publicity. Thousands of news sources picked up on the fight for the life of baby Susan and broadcast the evolving miracle to hundreds of millions of readers and viewers across the globe.
In lengthy interviews with LifeSiteNews.com the parents of Susan’s husband, Jason—Sonny and Karen Torres—talked about the events that have plunged their entire family into suffering beyond imagination, and provided information and insights into their struggle that they say they have shared with no other news media.
Jason’s soft-spoken father, Sonny, has given express permission to LifeSiteNews to print the details of what both he and his son have increasingly come to believe was a shared mystical experience, foretelling the great influence of the miraculous story of Susan and her unborn daughter, and ordering it to be spread. Sonny told LifeSiteNews that until now he has not provided any other news media with the following information because he was afraid that the mainstream media would fail to understand and would distort the story. “I want it to be done the way pro-life people would want it to be done,” he said.
Several times Sonny repeated that he is not the sort of person who is inclined to put much weight in personal mystical experiences. “I’m not the person to be spreading this kind of thing,” he said, “But it has touched me.” Karen herself assured LifeSiteNews that her husband and her son, although men of faith, have never been the type of people to go in for this sort of thing.
But now, Sonny said over the phone, as the story of Susan and her baby has spread beyond the understanding or dreams of any of the members of the Torres family, he said that he has come to believe that there must be more to it all than can be naturally explained away.
On the night of Susan’s collapse, May 7, said Sonny, he returned home with his wife Karen at about 3:00am, and went to bed, exhausted. At about 4:15am, without any warning, he awoke and sat bolt upright. Karen also awoke and asked him what the matter was.
“What it was,” he said, “it wasn’t a dream…This was so different from a dream…so…so powerful. It was words that came to me. It was a woman’s voice; my wife made me write it down. It wasn’t a request, it was a command.”
“Was it a loving voice?” he asked rhetorically. “In a way I think it was, but not the way most people would think. It was like the voice of a parent telling their kids to do something, and saying don’t question why, do it because I told you to.”
Sonny said that although it struck him at the time as a singular and unusual experience, he put it down to overwrought nerves, still barely coming to terms with the tragedy of his daughter-in-law’s sudden collapse only a few hours before. It wasn’t until the following day when he began to tell his son what happened that he was given a palpable reason to think of it as something more than imagination.
“I went to my son later that day,” continued Sonny, “and I began to tell him about it and he said ‘Stop! Let me tell you what I had.’ We compared notes, and it happened about the same time—4:15 in the morning. And his is almost word for word of mine.”
The words that both Sonny and Jason believe they heard, before the life-affirming story of Susan ever reached the ears of a journalist or a newsman, are the following:
“You and others will tell the world of a fight to save a precious life, not to change hardened hearts, but to give hope to those who believe, so that they know that there is more than what they see and hear. Let them come and see for themselves.”
Sonny’s voice shook as he read the paper on which he had written those words. “I have a hard time reading the paper…At any other time I would have thought I was a crazy person having a dream,” he said. “But the way this has taken off, I really question that now.”
When Sonny was asked why he thought that the story of Susan had gained such widespread attention he responded: “I guess, and I kind of hope it is, that people are really tired of seeing nothing but Terri Schiavo stuff, they’re really tired of reading about Laci Peterson and her baby just being thrown away. And it’s nice to see somebody that’s going the other direction.”
Karen concurred: “I would say that the Holy Spirit decided that this world needed the story of someone fighting for a little human life. And also, I’ve come to the conclusion that people are kind…kinder than people give them credit for.”
But Sonny also said that from the viewpoint of the family, the fact that their story has gone as big as it has is more than a little puzzling: “We’re kind of surprised…because to us there was no other choice. People come to all of us and they are so touched and say it’s such an honour to meet us. But we didn’t have a choice in what we did. This is the way it’s supposed to be.”
He also challenged those who have callously spoken out against Jason’s decision to keep his wife alive, to come to see the newborn baby. On the radio the day before, Sonny said, he’d heard someone saying that Catholics need to get it into their heads that life doesn’t begin until birth. “Susan was three months early,” he said, “and there’s a lot of abortions that are done on kids her size. All you have to do is stand and look at that incubator…life starts a lot earlier than birth. I just invite them…I’ll show them myself.”
Even given the strong faith of the family, however, both Karen and Sonny admitted that at no point was it easy. In early July, it is a little reported fact that Karen’s mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. “There were some days,” said Karen, “when it was difficult to put one foot in front of the other, especially with the death of my mother.”
“Our faith and the kindness of other people praying for us was the only thing that got us through.” She said that through it all she was reminded of a famous quote by president Lincoln given during the Civil War. “I’m driven to my knees by the conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”
She continued, “I tell my children, now do you understand why you must go to Church on Sunday’s and keep your spiritual life in order? You can’t get it in good order in the middle of something like this. Faith is the only thing that gets you through.”
Both Sonny and Karen, when asked if there was anything in particular that they would like printed, said that they would like to thank the millions who have stood so firmly behind their family and supported them. “Thanks to all the millions of people that have been sending even just little letters from across the world. That has kept the family and Jason going,” said Sonny. And Karen thanked the many who have donated to the Susan Torres Fund, saying “At least now [Jason] doesn’t have to file for bankruptcy while he’s burying his wife.”
They also asked for further prayers as they wait for detailed tests from the pathologist that will say for sure whether or not Susan’s melanoma passed through the placenta to her new born daughter.
To help alleviate the estimated $1 million in medical costs visit the Susan Torres Fund at www.susantorresfund.org
See previous LifeSiteNews reports:
Susan Torres Dies After Receiving the Last Sacraments of the Catholic ChurchÂ
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05080403.html
Family Struggles to Keep “Brain Dead” Woman Alive for her Unborn Child
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jun/05061604.html
JJ