A quiet moment of prayer in a Rhode Island hospital has now been officially recognized by the Vatican as the first confirmed miracle attributed to Pope Leo XIV’s papacy.
In 2007, a baby named Tyquan Hall was delivered via emergency C-section at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The newborn faced life-threatening complications, and despite the medical team’s best efforts, doctors were preparing to tell the family that the child hadn’t survived.
It was then that Dr. Juan Sánchez-Esteban, a neonatologist from Almería, Spain, paused for one last moment of reflection. Guided by his faith, he softly recited a childhood prayer, asking for the intercession of a 19th-century Spanish priest: Venerable Father Salvador Valera Parra.
Father Valera Parra, who lived from 1816 to 1889, was revered in his community for his compassion during a cholera outbreak. Although he was respected, no miracles had previously been attributed to him—until this case.
According to the Diocese of Almería, just moments after the doctor’s prayer, something extraordinary occurred. As staff prepared to deliver the tragic news, a nurse noticed the baby’s vital signs had returned. Against all odds, Tyquan had started breathing again.
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