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CNN Larry King Live
Real-Life Miracles and Unexplained Events
Aired June 11, 2002 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight: One boy's faith helps his brother survive a coma.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, I can see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A blind man is shocked into seeing.
A would-be suicide marries the friend who saved her life.
And a son finds the father he never knew.
Emotional stories from PAX-TV's "It's a Miracle."
Joining us: the program's host, Emmy-winner Richard Thomas, plus people who'll share their incredible experiences all next on LARRY KING LIVE.
Tonight's edition of LARRY KING LIVE takes a look at an extraordinary television show on PAX-TV; it's in its fourth season. It's called "It's a Miracle," airing every Thursday night at 8:00. It's hosted by the Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Thomas.
Why do you do this?
RICHARD THOMAS, HOST, "IT'S A MIRACLE": Because it's good news. It makes me happy.
KING: How did they get you for this?
THOMAS: Well they -- about four years ago they called and said, we want to do a show kind of like, you know, unexplained mysteries and unsolved crimes. But these are good news stories; and these can be stories about wonderful, sort of miraculous events that have happened to change people's lives.
And I thought, well, that's great, good news -- but does anybody want to see that? And it's been four years.
KING: And you have the real people on, as well as do re- enactments of...
THOMAS: Yes, I just host the show and narrate, which is something I've never done before. It's a whole different kind of job for me.
And then we have the real people come in, and we talk to them, and they give interviews. And then there are re-enactments, which sometimes involve them more and more, which is -- which I enjoy.
KING: Because we're going to show this tonight.
It basically says it encounters stories of healing, intervention mysterious, uplifting phenomena that often defy plausible explanation.
THOMAS: That's absolutely right. Everything from...
KING: It's a stretch to say "miracle" sometimes.
THOMAS: Well, it is a stretch sometimes. But for me, what I do is I just -- I think it's up to the people whose stories these are. When they feel, they know, they feel that something miraculous has happened to change their lives, that's the word they use, and that's a word I respect.
KING: Do you ever find the stories unbelievable to you?
THOMAS: Very hard; very hard to believe some of them. I mean, sometimes you just want to call it -- it's a coincidence. But, then I don't really believe in coincidences.
KING: You don't? You believe...
THOMAS: No, I think all these...
KING: ... something is out there.
THOMAS: Well, I think all these things come together. And...
KING: Where do they find them?
THOMAS: From all over. We check -- there are the newspapers. I don't pick the stories, I just host them, you know.
But they find them in the newspapers. They find them in magazines, and in the news. People write in. Hundreds and hundreds of people write in.
KING: Because they want to get on?
THOMAS: Oh, yes, they have -- you know, I'll be walking across the driveway in my grocery store and people will come up and tell me stories. They come up with miracles everywhere.
KING: All right, Richard Thomas will be with us the full program. We're going to take you to some of these people. We're going to begin in Dallas with Bo Carver and Katzi Carver. And let's watch this little re-enactment, the synopsis of their story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
BO CARVER: When I went in, I saw her laying on the bed, and a lot of pill bottles were laying to the side.
Come on, wake up, wake up! Wake up!
THOMAS (voice-over): While the night manager ran for help, Bo tried desperately to awaken Katzi, but there was no response.
B. CARVER: Many, many emotions were passing through me at that time. I felt like that I might have been too late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Let's meet the real, live Bo Carver and Katzi Carver. They are Mr. and Mrs. Carver.
And now on this night, Katzi, you were -- why did you want to kill yourself?
KATZI CARVER, TRIED SUICIDE, MARRIED MAN WHO SAVED HER: I think that it was a culmination of a lot of stresses in my life. And it was just the evening that the straw broke the camel's back. So I...
KING: So you took some pills.
K. CARVER: Right.
KING: And you were in a hotel room, not known to anyone that you'd be there?
K. CARVER: Right. I didn't leave any note or any -- even a bobby pin anywhere for anyone to know where I might be.
KING: Was Bo your boyfriend?
K. CARVER: He was a friend at the time; a good friend.
KING: Now what happened to you, Bo? How did you pick up -- how did you find -- what happened?
B. CARVER: That's the nature of the show, isn't it? It's a miracle. And that's what I call it. It's...
KING: What happened? Were you sleeping?
B. CARVER: I was sleeping. It was 3:00 a.m. And I'm a real heavy sleeper. And all of a sudden, I just rose straight out of the bed, just like somebody had prodded me up.
And as soon as I woke, raised up from the bed, I looked at the clock and it showed 3:00 in the morning. And immediately Katzi was on my mind. And I didn't have a good feeling about her. And -- but I didn't know what to do at that point. It was just a heavy, heavy feeling.
And I immediately called the house, and her son answered the phone -- which was also a miracle, because she's usually gone over that -- the weekend time. And he answered the phone. And he didn't have any idea where she was, where she had gone -- didn't leave a note. Nothing.
And so I said, well maybe I'll just come over your way, and maybe we can game plan, maybe she'll show up shortly, maybe she went out with a friend. I don't know. But maybe I'll come over there, we'll game plan and see what we can do and go from there.
And as I began to head that direction, it was about an hour away, too. From my apartment to their house. I just began to say short little prayers like, guide me and protect Katzi. And as I was making...
KING: Did you have reason to believe she was in trouble?
B. CARVER: There was a heavy sense of that. Being 3:00 in the morning, she wasn't home -- that wasn't like her to be gone.
KING: So how did you find her?
B. CARVER: As I was saying, I was headed that way, to their house. And about three-quarters of the way there -- and during this time I was saying these little prayers, I came to a red light. And while I was there, I looked up and there was a Ramada Inn sign.
And just a real impression -- crazy as it may be -- I had this thought to pull in through that parking lot. And I said to myself then, I won't never tell anybody about this because it's odd. But I did, I pulled through the parking lot and I made the three turns. And on the third turn I saw her car there.
And I didn't have a real good feeling. I knew there was problems at that point.
KING: How did you get into her room?
B. CARVER: That's another miracle. That's part of the miracle story. As I came into the hotel, and the night manager was there. And he was, for quite some time, was uncooperative in helping me.
And finally I looked him right in the eye, Larry, and I said, if you've ever believed anything in your life, you need to trust this situation, that there's a possibility of a major problem.
KING: All right, you break into the room and you save her life?
B. CARVER: Yes sir, that's correct.
KING: Katzi?
K. CARVER: Yes sir?
KING: What do you make of this?
K. CARVER: I think that it was wonderful that he was willing to go beyond the five senses and just get into the world of a little bit of spirit to feel that it was all right to be crazy and to take chances and to step out there.
KING: And then you wind up falling in love and getting married?
K. CARVER: I know. It's unbelievable, isn't it? But it really is.
KING: How did you get over your depression?
K. CARVER: Well, you know, that was a long journey. A long journey of trying to get outside myself and look outward. A lot of times that can help. We've started a foundation called The Feather of Hope Tree about looking out -- helping people in just minute ways and how it can make a big difference.
KING: I salute you both.
What a story, Richard.
THOMAS: It's great how -- what does it take to follow that little voice inside? How many of us don't do it?
KING: Those were the Carvers. We've got more coming.
We're saluting "It's a Miracle." It's seen on PAX-TV.
Back with more. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
K. CARVER: I realized what an incredible miracle it was. So many things had to come together to make this happen. Jason had to come home at the right time. A very sound sleeper rising out of a bed -- Bo had to wake up.
It was almost like, this can't be real. If Bo Carver had not listened and followed his instincts and felt that it was all right to feel crazy, or all right to feel all those things that he went through, there is no way that I would still be alive today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Back on LARRY KING LIVE. With me is the Emmy award- winning actor Richard Thomas, who is the host of "It's a Miracle" on PAX-TV.
Our next story will center in Atlanta, Georgia, where we'll meet Esther Green, whose car was carjacked with her young daughter in the backseat. Holly Hill, the 911 operator who saved Green from the carjacker. We'll going to show you a re-enactment now of the scene inside the car just after Esther realizes she's been car jacked. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
THOMAS (voice-over): Inside the Mercedes, the nightmare is just beginning.
ESTHER GREEN, CARJACKING SURVIVOR (voice-over): I grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it and was blowing the horn at the same time, hoping to draw attention or to get him to stop.
THOMAS: But she only managed to make him angry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lady, if you don't sit back, I'm going to shoot you!
THOMAS: The threat of violence stopped Esther in her tracks.
GREEN: I stopped fighting and I sat back, and he took off out of the parking lot.
GREEN (on camera): What do you want? I'll give you anything you want.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up!
GREEN (voice-over): I just had my head down because I was like, how did I get my daughter into this? And looking down at the floor was my diaper bag, and in the side pocket was my cell phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: And so, Esther, you took your cell phone, dialed 911, and put it next to the baby.
GREEN: Actually, I put it in my diaper bag and left the receiver facing out.
KING: And what you had to do was hope that 911 would hear what was going on in the car, right?
GREEN: Exactly. I could not tell if the call had gone through, if I had gotten the proper signal for the call to go through. I just prayed that someone had answered on the other end.
KING: And how would you let them know where you are?
GREEN: Immediately I began to scream, "I have a baby. Please stop the car. Let me out of the car."
And I started to pray out loud, and I just became immediately calm. And from there is when I just decided to pinpoint my location and as we were traveling, and using it as a question to the carjacker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
GREEN: Oh my God, please help me. Somebody help me. Please stop the car. You can have the car. I don't care. You can have the car. Please. Where are you going to take us? Where are we going to go? You're headed down 314? Why are we headed down this way to the airport?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the airport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now Holly, you take this call. What's your first reaction? What do you hear?
HOLLY HILL, 911 OPERATOR: The first thing I hear is just somebody screaming and yelling, saying, "I have a baby. Please stop the car."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
GREEN: Please, I have a baby!
HILL: Ma'am, ma'am...
GREEN: Oh, my God! Stop the car! Stop the car!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: I first thought it was going to be a domestic fight in the car between two people. So I first tried to get her attention. That's what we usually try to do in a domestic fight, keep them from talking to each other and to talk to me.
Then she started talking about locations, you know, why are you passing Belles & Beaus? Why are you passing Tinseltown now? So I knew what direction she was going.
KING: Did you then realize she was being carjacked?
HILL: Yes, one of her friends had called in, which another operator took that call, and she said my friend just drove off and I don't know why. That's when we realized that it was going to be a carjacking that we had going on.
KING: Holly, did you have high hopes this would work?
HILL: You know, you don't think about it. You just do your job. You don't think about that it may not -- everybody may not make it home safely. You just do your job and you do your best to make sure that they do.
KING: And Esther, what are you thinking as you're going along? Are you thinking they're hearing me? They're going to get some attention, or are you pessimistic?
GREEN: I was actually very hopeful. As I said, when I began to pray, I received an overwhelming sense of calm, and I felt that we were going to get out of this situation. And I just was praying at the same time that someone was hearing me and understood what I was trying to do by giving them the location of where the carjacker was taking us. I also mentioned it's a brand new Mercedes, just take the car. And I was just plotting my locations as we went along.
KING: Did you say it's a brand new green Mercedes, my license plate is 2XY3 ...
GREEN: Believe me, believe me, it did run in my mind how I can throw that in. I had just gotten new tags and I knew the license plate number. But I tried to keep it where it was still believable to the carjacker that I was speaking with him.
KING: And then what -- you contacted the police, Holly, and gave them location?
HILL: Right. I work in there where we dispatch the officers. So automatically we notified the Fayette Police Department and the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. Well, then when she was giving locations, we knew she was going to be going into different jurisdictions because the county lines were real close there.
KING: This is unbelievable. And what happened, the police came, Esther? The police ran him down?
GREEN: Yes, it seems quite a while, I was in the backseat with the carjacker. He was threatening me to be quiet, but I knew talking was my only way out, and he had no idea what I was doing. He then pulled behind a farmer's market and an accomplice got in the back seat with me and my daughter. It wasn't until shortly after that I started to lose faith. And two police cars zoomed right past us.
And I knew that my call had gone through and that everything was going to be fine as long as the police could pull us over to safety. So it was definitely an amazing, miraculous experience.
KING: They arrested both people right at the scene?
GREEN: Yes, they did.
KING: Holly, how did you get together to know Esther?
HILL: When they called me about a week later and -- close to a week later -- and said that we were going to be reunited, because after it happened I thought about her so often and just wanted to just call her and tell her what a good job she did, how amazing she was and what strength she had to protect her daughter.
KING: Wow, you are both heroines. I salute you both. Richard, that's an amazing story.
THOMAS: An amazing story. The resourcefulness of people working together, the presence of mind, and the sense of hopefulness in the middle of all of that danger.
KING: A lot of these stories have that, right? Hope and optimism.
THOMAS: And optimism. And people reaching out to each other.
KING: That guy in the first part, feeling he'd find something.
Back with more. We're saluting "It's a Miracle." It's on PAX- TV. Richard Thomas is its host. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
HILL (voice-over): It's a miracle that they were able to pick up on what was going on with her call. It's a miracle that these guys didn't harm her, that they didn't hurt the baby. I truly believe that God was just looking down on them.
GREEN: I just looked over at my daughter. Here she was, 10 months old. She had just taken her first steps the night before, and how bad of a mother was I to allow this to happen to her? And I just knew right then that I had to do something to get out of the situation. I know that this situation was guided by the angels, because miracles happened every step of the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Joining us now on LARRY KING LIVE with my co-host tonight and the host of "It's a Miracle," Richard Thomas.
We go to Sacramento, California, where we're joined by David Brinsley who found the father he had never known. And Maria Lee, David's long-lost half-sister.
To lead this in we're going to show you a clip of David and Maria's highly improbable meeting in church, and then we'll get the story. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
DAVID BRINSLEY, REUNITED WITH FATHER HE NEVER KNEW (voice-over): After service had ended and everybody was leaving, I grabbed her arm. And I said:
(on camera): I notice the name on your Bible is Maria Lampert.
MARIA LEE: And he said, "I know you'll find this odd but..."
BRINSLEY: My biological father's name is Lampert.
LEE: I never met him, and I'd been looking for him recently.
BRINSLEY: I was just wondering if you happen to know anybody named Larry Lampert?
LEE: Oh my gosh.
My heart started to race, my hands started to sweat.
Are you serious? Larry Lampert is my dad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Unbelievable. All right David, give this to me. You were looking for a father you had never known. What were the circumstances? Why had you never known him?
BRINSLEY: Well, just due to some circumstances between my biological father and my mother, there were some communication problems, I guess you could say.
KING: So you never met him.
BRINSLEY: I had never met him, yes.
KING: And when did you start a search for him?
BRINSLEY: Well, I had looked -- I knew his name all my life. So I had been looking kind of off and on. When I'd go places I'd look in the phone book for Lampert's last name, just to see if I could see a Larry Lampert in a phone book anywhere.
But I hadn't done a really solid search until I met my wife, and she convinced me to really look for him.
KING: Now Maria Lee, Larry Lampert was what to you?
LEE: He's my father.
KING: You father. You grew up with him. You knew him all your childhood?
LEE: Yes, he's my biological father. He was living in Missouri, which is probably another reason why Dave couldn't find him.
KING: All right Dave, so you're in church one day, and what?
BRINSLEY: Well, we're in church and my wife taps me on the arm and points down at the pew in front of us, to the Bible that was laying face up in front of us that said "Maria Lampert." And I had -- like I said, I had known his name, but I had never seen the name before in the phone books or anywhere I'd looked. So I was just very shocked that that name was sitting in front of me.
So after service is when I grabbed her and I started asking her questions about if she knew a Larry Lampert.
LEE: What you have to understand, too, the Bible that I had that day was actually given to me by my grandmother when I was 13. And it's not a Bible that I normally bring to church. I had a study Bible because I went every Sunday to the singles group there. And we also sat way on the other side of the church.
I mean, there's anywhere from 4,000 and 6,000 people there. And for whatever reason this day I came in with a group and said, "I am so tired of sitting in the same place every single day." So I went way on the other side of the church to sit.
And like I said, I normally bring this other Bible, but I was rushed out of the house this particular morning, getting my two little ones out. So I just grabbed the one on that's on the mantle, that I never use, which just happened to have my maiden name on it.
KING: It's a miracle?
LEE: It's more than a miracle.
KING: So now this is your half-sister, right David?
BRINSLEY: Yes, that's correct, yes.
KING: Did you meet your dad?
BRINSLEY: Yes, I did meet him. He came out several months later after the church reunion, or the church meeting, which was the segment. So we have met, yes.
KING: Did that go well?
BRINSLEY: It did. It went well. He was very receptive to me, and was excited to meet me. I mean, all I ever wanted was to just meet him and for him to know who I am, because I didn't know if he knew who I was or anything like that.
And the fact that he was receptive to meet me was wonderful. But the greatest part for me is now having a relationship with my sister because, I mean, she's one of the best things that's ever happened to me.
LEE: We live about five miles from each other, and our families have become the best of friends.
KING: Is it true, David, rather that Larry, your father, didn't know you were born?
LEE: He had no knowledge of him.
KING: He didn't know there was a you?
BRINSLEY: Yes, he says that he didn't know that there was a me.
But I'd like to set the record straight that there is two sides to this story as far as whether...
KING: Your mother's side and your father's side.
BRINSLEY: Right. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't really care, because I don't want to take away from the miracle because I found my dad and I found my sister, and I have a great relationship. And the rest of that is just -- is really unimportant to me.
KING: And everybody gets along, your wife and your husband, right? Everybody, you're now friends?
LEE: His wife is my very best friend. And I will tell you that I've had a personal hardship in the last couple of years; I lost my daughter. And I can honestly tell you that my brother and his wife Terri (ph) are -- played a very instrumental part in keeping me sane during the recovery of that process.
We are the best of friends. We go to church together. We live really close to each other. It's a miracle.
KING: What a story. Thank you both very much. And David -- Richard, I can see where you really enjoy this.
THOMAS: Oh I love it, you know.
KING: It's only uplifting.
THOMAS: The stories are extraordinary, they're uplifting. And just because this one man had a sense that his life wasn't whole until he could find that one missing piece. And he had a wife who encouraged him. And his sister becomes his friend, he gets a whole family.
KING: We're just halfway through. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
BRINSLEY (voice-over): The only way that I can explain what happened is to say it's a God thing. I asked him to help me, and he did. And now I have a relationship with my biological father who now I get to be close to. And all the rest of the details, they're unimportant.
The important part is that now I have a full family who loves me, and who I love dearly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
THOMAS (voice-over): Janet was flying to New Orleans to donate one of her own kidneys to buy her sister some time. But ultimately Deborah would need a new liver to survive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to Paducah, Kentucky because my nephew just accidentally shot himself. And his condition is looking real bad. They don't think he's going to live.
THOMAS: Because of Michael's hopeless condition, Allen (ph) had helped convince his sister to donate the young man's organs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tapped her on the shoulder and I said, how about Michael's liver -- we use it for your sister, like that. And she looked at me like I was a nut.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Welcome back to LARRY KING LIVE, looking at the program "It's a Miracle," which airs Thursdays on PAX-TV. Richard Thomas, the Emmy Award-winning actor is its co-host. And he's with us with these incredible stories.
And we go to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Deborah White is standing by, looking very healthy, perky and beautiful.
But Deborah White needed a new liver, maybe a new kidney.
Here's a clip. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
THOMAS (voice-over): After learning that Allen's nephew and Debbie shared the same blood type, Janet got through to Memorial Medical Midcity campus in New Orleans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's brain dead. They've got him on life support. And what we want to know is if we can get his nephew's liver for my sister. Is that possible?
And she said, is he the same blood type? And I said, yes, ma'am, I've already checked on that. And she said, yes you can. Just like that. It was so powerful. And I said: Tell me what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: All right Deborah, what is this story? What happened? You needed a liver?
DEBORAH WHITE, LIFE SAVED BY LIVER TRANSPLANT: Yes sir. I had had a previous liver transplant, but unfortunately my body rejected it. So I had to take numerous anti-rejection drugs, and they were tearing up my kidneys.
So they thought I was going to have to have a kidney before they could find me a liver. And my sister stepped up and offered me her kidney. And she went through all the tests and everything. And she just had one last test to do. And she got on the plane to fly to me, to go to New Orleans to see which kidney they were going to take because that was going to buy me time until they found me a liver.
And I tried to book her a flight. All the books -- all the flights were booked. I found the second-to-last seat on the very last flight. And Mr. Van Meader (ph) happened to get the seat next to her. The very next seat.
KING: So just by coincidence, this man -- Allen Van Meader -- he sits next to Janet Larson (ph), your sister, on this plane. They begin to talk, and Janet tells him the story, right?
WHITE: Right. She was studying a diagram of a kidney, trying to educate herself to ask intelligent questions of the doctors. And he looked over and tapped her on the shoulder and asked her if she was a doctor. And she said no. So she explained why she was coming to meet me, to donate a kidney for me.
And he said, well I'm going to see my sister (sic) too, but for a very different reason: he's brain dead.
KING: His nephew, her son -- his sister's son.
WHITE: Correct. Yes sir.
KING: So did it work out, now -- this has got to be unbelievable -- that that kid's liver is in you?
WHITE: Right. At first my sister said, well -- because he said he felt a sudden sense of urgency that he says came from God. And he said that encouraged him to push this thing on and to pick up that phone right on the airplane and to try and get in touch with the hospitals to see if this was actually possible.
THOMAS: She was saying, you know, thank you very much, that's so thoughtful of you but, you know, I don't think that will work out. I don't think it will work out.
And he said, no, no; we've got to see this through. We've got to try this.
And he was just overtaken with this sense of possibility.
KING: Wow. So then what happened, Deborah?
WHITE: Well, Jan said, you know, I appreciate it but, you know, it's really not that easy because there's tons of red tape. I mean, you have to be the same blood type, same tissue type. You have to almost be the same size.
Well, they phoned my hospital and Allen told my sister that Michael, my donor's blood type, was O-positive, and so is mine. And so she called my hospital, which I had spent most of the previous three years, you know, at. So my nurses were very familiar with my case. And they said, are you the same -- is she the same blood type? And Jan says, yes ma'am, they sure are. And the lady, the head nurse, Wanda (ph), she said, yes, you can. It's totally possible.
KING: So then the liver was shipped to the hospital?
WHITE: Well, there was other stop signs along the way. He was 150 pounds, 50 pounds heavier than me. And he was like 6-2. So they were worried about the size proportion and all that kind of stuff. And then the last thing -- the last stop sign we got was the commercial airline refused to wait 15 minutes to transport the organ.
So all day we were like -- had such high hopes. We had everyone praying and everything. And then we got this huge stop sign that said, it's not going to be possible. So then an anonymous donor stepped up and chartered a jet plane.
KING: Well first, that airline should be whacked.
WHITE: Absolutely.
KING: That donor should be saluted.
The plane gets to you in time. And so on this chance meeting in an airplane...
WHITE: Correct.
KING: ... and a man and a woman, strangers to each other, the woman going to get you a kidney, your sister; the man has a nephew who's just died. They turned off the machine keeping him alive.
WHITE: Yes, they had actually told Mr. Van Meader on the airplane phone that it was too late, they had already started the procedure of procuring his organs.
And he said, no, it's not too late. This is of God. And the nurse dropped the phone and ran down the hall, and he said she was gone for, you know, maybe five minutes. And then she picked the phone back up, and he said no -- she said no, Mr. Van Meader, it's not too late. I just stopped it.
KING: Do you know Mr. Van Meader well now?
WHITE: I do. I do, and I love him to death.
KING: I would if I were you, too. Thank you so much Deborah.
WHITE: Thank you. Thank you.
KING: What a story.
THOMAS: What a great story. And how many different people of goodwill does it take to come together to make something like that happen?
KING: It's a miracle.
Back with more after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
THOMAS (voice-over): Even in their great joy, Janet and Deborah will never forget the sacrifice made by Michael Gibson (ph).
WHITE: I mourn Michael's death. But in a way, he lives on. He saved my life. He lives on within me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This miracle, if you will, happened because someone in their moment of tragedy decided to do something for the greater good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: Two more miracles to go. The first is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Renay Poirier joins us. This incredible story is of a man who regained his sight after a headache.
How he lost his sight, we'll show you now in this clip: watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
THOMAS (voice-over): In an instant, 100,000 volts of electricity would change Renay's life forever. Steve (ph) was working 300 feet away away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): All of a sudden, I heard a loud cracking and popping sound. Immediately I knew something horrible had happened. I was very afraid going up there. I had butterflies in my stomach. I mean, my stomach sunk. I asked him immediately, you are OK? And he indicated then he could not see.
THOMAS: The world was disappearing for Renay Poirier. He was going blind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That was in 1990. How long, Renay, were you blind?
RENAY POIRIER, FORMER BLIND MAN: Almost 10 years, Larry.
KING: Wow. Had you learned to adapt as a blind man. Did you read braille? What did you do?
POIRIER: Well, I started to learn how to do braille, but it wasn't too easy for me to do. I learned mostly from audible information.
KING: You wound up as a blind man, you went to college, became a physical therapist, blind physical therapist, right?
POIRIER: Yes, sir.
KING: And then in May, two years ago, you get a headache, as I'm told, and when it went away, you saw. What happened?
POIRIER: Yes. Describing it like that is about right. It felt like somebody hit me over the head with a lead pipe. And I thought I was having a stroke. I started going numb. And my eyes were flooded with a bright light, and I instantly felt comfortable. When the bright light was gone, I could see. It has been a beautiful world ever since.
KING: You see perfectly?
POIRIER: Yes, sir.
KING: How did the doctors explain this?
POIRIER: They can't explain it. Nor can I, other than it was given to me, a gift from God.
KING: Because you were blind in both eyes, right? And this is a high voltage electrical accident.
POIRIER: Yes, sir.
KING: You were blind for 10 years. You had given up hope of seeing?
POIRIER: Yes, I had. And I had put my trust completely in God and decided that life was going to be OK anyway. I have a beautiful wife that stayed with me through the whole time and two beautiful little girls. And things were going to be OK. I learned to use the abilities I had and didn't leave the disabilities get me down.
KING: Another amazing story. Renay Poirier. What a story, Richard.
THOMAS: Yes. And not to see your kids for ten years, and then all of a sudden, there they are.
KING: Now we go to Molton, Alabama, where we're going to meet Regina Pullum. She's the mother of Dallas Pullum. Wayne Pullum is Dallas Pullum's brother. And Dallas himself. Dallas fell into a coma at age 16 after a terrible car accident. He was going to die. Watch this clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
REGINA PULLUM, MOTHER OF DALLAS (voice-over): I went into his room. And I could hear the machines, see the heart monitor. And then I went up and I held his hand. And I told him, I said, "Dallas, mama's here. I love you. You'll always be with my heart."
To cut the machine off that was keeping Dallas alive was the hardest thing in life I have ever had to do. We just told God, you can give him more than we can, just take him home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next day we was going to take him off machines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: OK. Regina, you were going to pull the plug because the doctors had said there was no hope.
R. PULLUM: Yes, sir.
KING: Wayne, why did you say, as I understand it, give it one more day?
WAYNE PULLUM, BROTHER OF DALLAS: I just felt like deep down inside that he hadn't left yet. I mean, I felt like he still had a lot to accomplish in life.
KING: So Regina, you agreed, and it was going to be like 24 hours?
R. PULLUM: Yes, sir. At the time, I felt deep down that Dallas was gone. But that was my way of helping Wayne, was he -- I felt he needed one more day with his brother. And I couldn't deny him of that. So I assured Wayne that one more day with his brother, but he needed to accept what the doctors had said.
KING: Dallas, do you remember the accident?
DALLAS PULLUM, RECOVERED FROM COMA: No, sir.
KING: You don't remember anything?
D. PULLUM: I remember getting on the floor (ph) that day. I don't remember nothing from that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): I really don't remember nothing except seeing the headlights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Wayne, how long was Dallas in a coma?
W. PULLUM: He was in a coma for six days.
KING: What happened on that extra day, Regina, when you decided to give him that extra day to be with his brother?
R. PULLUM: Well, when Wayne asked me for more time for his brother, I told Wayne I would give him another day, but he had to come home, that I needed Wayne the come home. Just get away from everybody, the influence of everybody. Just me and him and his daddy and his sister. And he did.
He come home, and then at 12:00 a.m. that night he told me he had to go back. And I said, well, you told me you would come home. He said he had to go back and be with his brother. So I couldn't deny him of that. And he went back that night.
KING: What happened, Wayne?
W. PULLUM: I got there -- I guess I got back to the hospital about 1:30 a.m. in the morning. And about 2:00 a.m., 2:15 a.m. that morning I was in there talking to him, and he squeezed my hand and they got the doctors in there and they said that he had woke up.
KING: Good grief. And Dallas now is perfectly OK, Regina?
R. PULLUM: Yes, sir.
KING: Amazing story. Another amazing story.
THOMAS: It is. And Wayne, you made a promise, didn't you? W. PULLUM: Well, when I went and seen him at Decatur General, he asked me how was he. And I told him he was going to be OK. And he looked at me straight in the eyes and asked me, did I promise. And I told him, yes, I promise you, buddy, you'll be okay.
KING: We'll be right back with more on this "It's a Miracle" night. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
R. PULLUM (voice-over): Dallas amazes me. Some days I catch myself just staring at him. He says, "What are you looking at, mama?" I say, "Nothing, son."
THOMAS (voice-over): Perhaps most of all, Dallas is grateful to his brother Wayne, whose love and faith literally saved his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Our next miracle story on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE with Richard Thomas, the Emmy award-winning actor who hosts the program, is the story of Carly Boohm. Carly joins us from Olympia, Washington.
This beautiful young lady nearly drowned. Well, this was some harrowing story. Here's a clip to lead us in. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we hit the pillar, I tried to push off, thinking we'd just bounce off. As soon as I touched it, I just heard a big bang. The canoe just collapsed and wrapped around the pillar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone (ph) got sucked out the sides. But since Carly was right there, the pylon had just trapped her in there.
THOMAS (voice-over): In the next instant, the tremendous force of the river wrapped the canoe around the bridge pylon and pulled the young girl under.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's Carly? Where's Carly? She's still trapped in the canoe!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: This happened two years ago. Carly was underwater. The pylon -- the canoe upturns.
And you were down there how long, Carly?
CARLY BOOHM, SURVIVED 45 MINUTES UNDERWATER: Forty-five minutes. KING: How are you alive?
BOOHM: I actually died, but -- and then they restarted my heart.
KING: All right, now what do you remember most about -- do you remember -- do you have a clear memory of being down there that long?
BOOHM: I don't remember it at all.
KING: All right, so you had to learn the story afterward?
BOOHM: Yes.
KING: Do you remember going in the water?
BOOHM: No.
KING: What's the last thing you do remember?
BOOHM: Probably like the day before or something.
KING: Oh, so you don't even remember going out canoeing?
BOOHM: No.
KING: SO here's what happened: you go for 25 minutes; rescuers are trying to free you. A paramedic shows up who is an expert on cold-water drowning. He estimates they've still got 15 minutes left to save your life. You were pulled from the river after 45 minutes. They started CPR. Pulse wasn't detected until you got to the hospital. Had to spend two-and-a-half months in the hospital, intensive rehabilitation.
You go back to high school, graduate at the top of your class.
Did you get to meet that paramedic?
BOOHM: Yes, I did meet Shawn Ballard (ph).
KING: What do you make of this, Richard?
THOMAS: Well...
KING: She should not be here.
THOMAS: No, she shouldn't. But, you know something, life wants to hang on. People -- a human life is a hard thing to snuff out when there's, deep down inside, a will to survive, even if it's just the will of the body.
But what does it take for one person to drive up who happens to be an expert in that particular kind of catastrophe?
KING: We're going to close tonight with another wonderful story. They're here in the studios with us. Otto and Betty Sloan, the long- lost lovers who found each other again. They fell in love during the Depression, planned to marry, and got separated by -- well, watch the reunion here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "It's a Miracle")
THOMAS (voice-over): In the summer of 1999, after not seeing one another for 58 years, Otto and Betty Jean (ph) were reunited.
BETTY SLOAN, WED LONG-LOST LOVER: My heart was pounding so hard that I just couldn't hardly keep it in its place. He took my hand and hung onto it just for dear life. And I whispered to him, I said, don't ever let go of me again.
And he says, don't worry, I won't.
THOMAS: And Otto kept his promise when four weeks later he pledged to take Betty Jean as his lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, so long as they both should live.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: All right, as I get this, Betty, you fell in love during the Depression, planned to get married, and Otto goes off to war, right?
B. SLOAN: We really hadn't planned to get married at that point. But we had written back and forth, and we had dated. You know, we were quite young then.
But then he went to war and was at Pearl. And we were separated then. The war separated us for a long period of time.
KING: You thought he had died?
B. SLOAN: We thought -- I thought he was killed in action.
KING: Why didn't you write home, Otto?
OTTO SLOAN, WED LONG-LOST LOVER: I didn't find her -- I didn't know where she was at, because I tried to write, and tried to find her.
KING: So this was a case of disconnected love?
O. SLOAN: Yes, right.
KING: Then you marry someone else?
B. SLOAN: Yes.
KING: Did you get married?
O. SLOAN: Yes, I did.
KING: And how many years were you married?
B. SLOAN: I was married 51-and-a-half years.
KING: And became a widow?
B. SLOAN: Yes.
KING: And how long were you married?
O. SLOAN: Fifty years; near 51.
KING: Did your wife die?
O. SLOAN: Yes.
KING: How did you get reunited?
B. SLOAN: Well, I had inquired about his whereabouts for a number of years.
KING: Ah, you still loved him.
B. SLOAN: Uh-huh. And no one seemed to know what happened. No one seemed to know where he was or where he was. And so after his wife died he went to visit his cousin back in Colorado and asked her if she had my address. And of course she didn't, because my husband had died and I had moved in with my daughter.
KING: So how did you find him?
B. SLOAN: And it was through a picture that she sent to my sister in Oregon that had my four -- my three sisters and myself in it. It was taken in 1938, a school picture.
So I wrote her and thanked her for it, told her what it meant to me, and asked her again: Have you ever heard from your cousin Otto? And she fired a letter right back to me and said that he had been there after his wife passed away.
KING: Did you contact him, or you contact her?
O. SLOAN: Well, she called the following morning. She had my phone number. That was on a Saturday. I had tried the following morning. And she called me...
KING: When did you meet?
B. SLOAN: Well, that was in April, wasn't it, that we called -- we met over the phone, or found out about each other.
KING: And when did you see each other again?
B. SLOAN: In July -- no, in June.
KING: Did you know you were going to get married?
B. SLOAN: Oh, we knew we were going to get married before I even came down. I was living in Oregon.
O. SLOAN: Well, she -- that's the funny part of it, is that we talked about it and everything else, and made plans for it. But I never did propose to her. That's the funny part of it, is I never did.
KING: Still haven't.
B. SLOAN: No. On "It's a Miracle" program he did.
KING: Finally, on the show he proposed?
B. SLOAN: Yes.
KING: So you've been married how long now?
O. SLOAN: It will be three years...
B. SLOAN: In August.
O. SLOAN: In August, yes.
KING: What a great story. Otto, congratulations. Betty, you'll get your pair of braces.
B. SLOAN: Thank you Larry.
KING: Richard, I'd like to thank you.
THOMAS: Thank you. Thanks for having us on.
KING: "It's a Miracle." It airs Thursday on PAX.
I hope you enjoyed the show tonight. I sure did. A show about uplifting. You know, someone said the definition -- there are many definitions of "miracle." One of them is from wordnet at Princeton University: "An amazing or wonderful occurrence. A marvelous event."
It's a miracle.
NEWSNIGHT with Aaron Brown is next. Good night.
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