Mr. Rogers Saved My Life

[Gregory Matthews]

By the time Beth Usher was 5 years old, she was having 100 seizures a day.   Something about her favorite TV program, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, seemed to calm her and she would not seize while watching it.  After much study, she was diagnosed with Rasmussen's Encephalitis, in which it was believed that a virus was living in her brain and killing brain cells.  The only treatment was to remove half of her brain in a hemispherectomy.  

Prior to the surgery, her mother telephoned the studio and asked if Mr. Rogers could send Beth an autographed photo along with a note telling her that she would be O.K. after the surgery.  A few days prior to the surgery, Mr. Rogers telephoned Beth, talked with her for an hour about her friends, the surgery, and the TV program.  

The surgery lasted for 12 hours and while considered to be a success, resulted in severe swelling of her brain and the result of Beth being in a coma.  Mr. Rogers telephoned her mother following the surgery, prayed with her and continued to call her and pray for the next 2-weeks.,  On that last call, knowing that  Beth was still in a coma, Mr. Rogers stated that he would visit her in the hospital the next day, and he did  For the next hour, he talked to Beth, who was still in a coma, and  introduced her to several pf the puppets from the TV program.  Finally he left, and left the puppets with the comatose Beth.  

Beth eventually came out of her coma, recovered and for the next 20 years she and Mr. Rogers shared a close relationship, until his death on February 27, 2003.  It was his support and friendship that had sustained her both before, and after the surgery.  She credits him with saving her life.  

NOTE:  Presently in Beth Usher is a humor professional certified by the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor.  She travels the U.S. speaking on the subject of how to support people to survive devastating challenges.

 

The above is abstracted, by me, from:

Beth Usher, "Mister Rogers Saved My  LIfe," Brain & Life, October/November, 2018, page 48. 

[dgrimm60]

GREGORY

thank you for  posting this article====it was a very  good story  about  how  prayer  to  GOD  can help

dgrimm60

[phkrause]

What a wonderful Christian this man was! I would imagine that there are probably many more stories like this one. I used to enjoy watching, but I could never get my daughter when she was young or my grandchildren to watch his show!!