To be beatified in the Catholic Church, there must be a miracle attributed to a person’s intercession. This is the story of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's.
Bonnie Engstrom delivered her son, James Fulton Engstrom, at home near Archbishop Sheen’s hometown of Peoria, Illinois, on September 16, 2010. Immediately, it was evident that things were very wrong. James, who weighed a whopping 10 pounds, was blue. He was limp. He was not breathing. He had no pulse.
A knot in his umbilical cord, completely unknown to his parents, had tightened during delivery – effectively snuffing the life out of baby James by cutting off his supply of oxygen. A midwife immediately began CPR and called for an ambulance. Bonnie’s husband, Travis, performed an emergency Baptism on his son, invoking both of his namesakes.
Bonnie had become interested in Archbishop Sheen during her pregnancy and, long before the miracle that would save her son’s life, decided his middle name would be Fulton in his honour.
James’s large size for a newborn proved to be an additional complication for medical treatment, Bonnie told St Louis’ KSDK. He was too big for a newborn oxygen mask, but too small for the next size up.
While medical professionals worked on James, Bonnie found herself praying for Archbishop Sheen to save her son.
“I also remember in my head saying Fulton Sheen’s name over and over,” she said to KSDK. “Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen.”
An ambulance arrived 19 minutes after James’s birth, and the trip to the hospital was another 20 minutes. CPR was performed the entire time. James received multiple shots of epinephrine and still did not have a heartbeat. He arrived at the hospital 44 minutes after his birth. Bonnie was in a separate ambulance.
Doctors continued to attempt lifesaving measures on James, to no avail. Bonnie told KSDK that they were unaware he had gone so long without a pulse.
“They wanted to exhaust every effort before they went out into the hall and told my husband, ‘I’m sorry. We’ve tried everything, but your son didn’t make it,’” Engstrom said to KSDK. “I really think that’s what they were trying to do, to have hope, you know.”
A doctor told the team to try for five more minutes before declaring James deceased. It was at that time that the miracle happened.
“When those five minutes were up, everyone took their hands off so they could call time of death,” said Engstrom. “And it was in that moment, after 61 minutes without a pulse, that James’s heart started to beat.”
Doctors feared that James would have extensive damage to his brain and other organs because of how long he was deprived of oxygen. An initial MRI showed “extensive” damage to his brain.
Three months later, the Engstroms were made aware of how Archbishop Fulton Sheen had interceded for their son. A follow-up MRI was normal, with no brain damage. He still has no complications from his traumatic birth.
“We were like, ‘This is a miracle. This is a miracle,’” she told KSDK. “And that’s when I called the Sheen Foundation to tell them the story.”
In July 2019, when James was 8 years old, the Vatican confirmed what the Engstroms already knew to be true: James’s recovery was a miracle, and Archbishop Sheen had been the one to intercede for him.
Now a teenager, James and his family will be the ones to carry the first-class relic of Archbishop Sheen at his beatification Mass.
“This honour couldn’t be bestowed on a more grateful family,” said Bonnie. “We hope that sharing James’s story and promoting Sheen’s cause for canonisation will inspire more Americans to recognise the glory of God and the beauty of the Catholic faith.”
