Nearly 30 years ago, Andy Eaker miraculously bounced back from a serious childhood brain injury. Today, the Longview native is using that experience to encourage and empathize with patients as a hospital chaplain.

In June 1996, Andy Eaker was one of the first examples of extraordinary faith profiled in KLTV’s ‘Power of Prayer’ series.

That January, then-9-year-old Andy bumped heads with a classmate at school, leading to a ruptured artery and massive cerebral hemorrhage.

He was flown to Medical City Hospital in Dallas, where he underwent emergency surgery to relieve the pressure.

“It’s hard to understand how you literally would fall to your knees and beg for God to help you,” his mother Priscilla said in a 1996 interview.

After a week in a drug-induced coma, doctors removed an intracranial pressure monitor from his skull and stopped the medication.

“As the physical therapists held Andrew in a sitting position, his head lolled around like a rag doll unless it was supported. He continued to behave very lethargically and didn’t show any recognition when spoken to,” Priscilla wrote in a journal.

Andy had no movement on the right side and was unable to speak.

“I don’t supposed there is any way to prepare parents for seeing their child in the condition, and although we were fortunate that Andrew was alive, it is hard to describe the helplessness and hopelessness that we felt.”

A CT scan had revealed that the injury had caused extensive damage to portions of the brain responsible for speech and motor coordination.

After a week of making significant gains in rehab, Priscilla and husband Tommy took Andy in his wheelchair to visit the ICU team that had cared for him.

They also visited the chapel where they had spent countless hours praying.

“I said go ahead and say a prayer Andrew. You don’t have to talk,” Tommy said to Andy.

“God hears our prayers. And he especially hears the prayers of children. He bowed his head again and prayed. And two days later when he woke up, he was talking.”

On March 1, the Eakers returned to Longview, where friends had lined the roads holding signs. Their church held a welcome home party the next day, where it was clear that prayers were answered.

Andy’s recovery continued in the years that followed, working to overcome physical and educational challenges.

“Just watching him progress all these years. And all the things that he’s done and accomplished. It’s just answered prayers, one after another,” Tommy said.

Defying his disability, Andy graduated from Longview High School in 2004 and attended Kilgore College. In 2009, he earned a Bachelor’s degree from Texas State University and went to work with the Montana Conservation Corps.

This is when Andy also developed a passion for extreme sports, even embarking on a cycling trek across the country’s Heartland.

“He told me one time that he wanted to do something every day that he was afraid of,” Priscilla said. “You know, I guess when you’re that close to losing it, you just grab life.”

As Andy began to contemplate his calling in life, he leaned on his passion for helping others.

After completing his Masters at Vanderbilt University and working for a church, he later entered the chaplaincy program at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

Now 38, Andy is married and working as a chaplain at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.

Similar to his situation in childhood, Andy’s ministry often involves delivering hope to those in hopeless situations.

“I along with my own story, along with my own experience am wired to be empathetic towards others when they are experiencing trauma or a hospital stay.”

A witness to the power of prayer, his ecumenical approach meets patients wherever they may be in their walk of faith.

“I have the ability to see through, ‘Are you lonely? Are you feeling supported? Are you questioning your relationship with God? Are you grounded in your spirituality.’”

Though he has little memory of his life-altering experience in fourth grade, Andy says he’s acutely aware of the way his family and church community never gave up on him.

“The support in little ways and in big ways end up amounting to changing lives.”

This experience has come full circle for the Eaker family, especially knowing their pain and uncertainty served a greater purpose.

“I think his life is another instance of that,” Priscilla said. “The vocation, the path that he’s taken, I think that those are all prayers that have been answered. It’s just been a crooked road.”

The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of KLTV/KTRE-TV or Gray Television. They are solely the opinion of the author. All content © Copyright 2024 Lane Luckie