“Karmen, why didn’t you ever fear, dread, or shed any tears?” I asked my daughter.
“Because God told me He was going to take care of me, so there was nothing for me to fear.”
My life as a mother changed forever on June 17, 2023. This is the story of my 10-year-old daughter, Karmen, and her miraculous healing.
I can barely talk about it in person, but Karmen’s faith and fearlessness are why I want to get her story out, and I hope one day it will be her telling her story because she is truly a miracle.
Karmen LaRae, my then-9-year-old daughter, had an endoscopy done with a Bravo capsule placement (a medical device used to measure acid reflux). Immediately after the surgery, she was hurting horribly, but everyone said it was normal. Most of her doctors dismissed us, telling us to wait for the Bravo to “pass.”
We reached out and got no answers multiple times, and made an ER visit where she had bloodwork (which was off in many areas, indicating infection had already started in her body), and we were sent home with no answers. She continued to get worse, and it just didn’t seem normal. She wouldn’t eat or drink, or couldn’t stop vomiting if she did, and things kept getting worse.
Three days later, I took her back to the ER because I felt like I was watching my daughter die (in reality, I was). I’ll never forget praying, asking God to give me some kind of sign that we had reason to go in again to plead for answers.
That morning is burned in my brain for the rest of my life. At 5 a.m., Karmen texted from her room and asked if she could sleep with me. She said her belly was hurting. As I walked to her room, she met me in the middle of the hall and collapsed. Her body was in septic shock, and she started vomiting black, like coffee grounds. I sprang into action. I grabbed bags packed the night before, put her in the car, and off we went—about to live my worst nightmare. I knew it was bad, but I was not expecting what was ahead. I drove what felt like 150 miles per hour; she was lifeless and so sick. Twenty minutes later, we finally arrived.
In the ER, the second doctor we encountered—the one who saved her life—was an angel. Dr. Joseph Peeden placed a bear by her side, and she immediately loved it. She named it and still has it to honor him as her favorite doctor. Dr. Peeden didn’t leave her side and said if I hadn’t brought her in within the next three hours, we wouldn’t have her today. That broke me, and those words will never leave my mind.
Karmen had pneumonia, an infection of the mediastinum that moved up to her neck, was in septic shock, had a GI bleed, and was tachycardic. Yes, all of that. It was like every five minutes staff would come in and tell me more things were wrong with her. I felt like I wasn’t even in my body. It was a complete and utter nightmare.
You may ask yourself why I’m telling a gut-wrenching story about my daughter almost dying, but I feel led to honor my 10-year-old daughter’s fearlessness and faith as I got to witness it and fight by her side as she was on her deathbed. She didn’t complain one time, and when I say not one time, I mean it.
As her mother, I was on the concrete floor of the Children’s Hospital in the Pediatric ICU (actually on the phone with my grandmother) screaming, begging God to spare her and take me. It was like God spoke to me and told me to trust and have faith in Him like my daughter did. That hit me. There I was, 29 years old, and my young daughter was stronger than her mommy. How could I be weaker than her? How selfish was I?
But God . . . God stepped in and did miraculous things, fixing one thing after another. No one could believe it. Each day, her bloodwork got better and she felt better. She beat all the odds. She even got to move down a floor for the last four days and be with the kids who were not as sick, which made us all ecstatic.
I watched God do a miracle on her—it was like she had a minor illness when in reality she was dying. Only God does that. God used the entire situation to show me that sometimes, things aren’t what we want or what we expect, but He always shows up. Looking back, I know how much faith in God I lacked. But watching miracle after miracle changed my view of faith . . . for life.
My heart still hurts, and I still question why some days. Why was she chosen to suffer so much? I am grateful, but the sting is there. But when bitterness starts to set in, I remember God always has a purpose, and this will be Karmen’s testimony.
Looking back at all of Karmen’s records—all 800 pages—wrecks me in every way possible. And sometimes I want someone to admit wrong and be sorry, but to be honest the doctors who hurt her can’t heal her now. More than anything, I want her story heard.
I watched God perform a miracle right before my eyes. Seeing God work and watching Karmen recover changed me and my faith in God forever. I want to get the word out to parents everywhere to not take a “scope with Bravo placement” lightly. Please look for signs after surgery that may mean things aren’t normal. Ask for bloodwork and look it over thoroughly. Trust your gut—it may save your child’s life. It saved mine. If we could go back, we wouldn’t have decided to do this procedure, but we were told it was best, so it’s what we did. I’m praying for peace, and I’m healing day by day.
We serve an amazing God.
by Claire Brown 
by Kelli Bachara 
by Brynn Burger 
