BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR, IT MIGHT COME TRUE

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR – IT MIGHT COME TRUE.

C 2008 JoJo

I have often heard the above sentence said, but it had never really impacted on me until a certain incidence occurred many years’ ago.

Carl and George Anders (names have been changed) were childhood friends of mine. The Anders were a very wealthy family in Rio de Janeiro, who owned a beautiful home in the suburb of Gavea, only meters away from the ocean and Gavea Beach. They had a magnificent, huge swimming pool in their back garden and I was often invited over for a swim.

There were four kids in the family, Carl, the oldest, George, Cathy and Peter.

Needless to say, all four learned to swim at a very early age. I remember visiting their home once, when Peter (the youngest) was about 2 years of age. I was staggered to see him happily swimming in their pool, totally unaided by swim fins or any other inflated flotation device.

All four of them became enthusiastic scuba and snorkel divers.

Carl graduated top of his class in architecture, and had married a beautiful Brazilian girl. He was doing well in business, and when their son was born, life was complete . They were the perfect family. Carl was very tall, blond, blue eyed and extremely good looking, his wife a petite, brown eyed beauty with long lustrous black hair which fell to her waist.

George conversely was a bit of a n’ere-do-well who’d gotten into the drug scene and consequently, didn’t go on to university and had never amounted to much. As far as I can remember, he didn’t have a job, and his rich parents supported him.

One day, Carl and George decided to go out together, snorkeling. They went to a cove where the water was deep, at a location where the tide often dragged in items of interest, particularly from ancient shipwrecks in the vicinity. Both brothers started diving down to the ocean bed to see what they could find.

I don’t know if Carl didn’t take a deep enough breath or whether he simply misjudged how long he could hold it before breathing again, but I do know that he didn’t make it back to the surface. It took George some time to realize that Carl hadn’t come up from the dive, before he plunged back down and found him, lifeless and limp in the water, and dragged him to the surface and back to shore.

He frantically administered CPR on his brother, an ambulance was called, and Carl taken off to hospital. There his life hung by a thread.

When I heard that he was in intensive care, I was terribly upset and wept bitterly. He’d been a dear childhood friend to me, we’d grown up together, and he was, in all respects someone I’d loved and treasured.

I believe in the power of prayer, when it’s accompanied by positive thoughts and a great deal of faith. I prayed very hard that Carl would live. I’ve never prayed harder or longer for anyone than I did for him not to die.

Well, my prayers were answered – Carl lived. However, he’d been without oxygen for too long, and his brain cells had been compromised, mentally turning Carl, from a highly intelligent, able man, into an irresponsible four year old.

When it became evident that his brain damage was irreversible, his wife left him, taking their infant son with her.

Carl’s Dad had died, so his mother then had the burden of caring for her son with the same problems and difficulties any parent would have looking after an irresponsible four year old. She couldn’t take her eyes off him for an instant. He’d take off, and she wouldn’t know where he’d gone, and she’d constantly call the police to track him down.

Carl was deeply miserable, confused, disoriented, threw tantrums and was very hard to control. His Mum was chained to this man/child for the rest of her life, forfeiting any possibility of happiness or having a life of her own. I imagine that when she died, her daughter Cathy probably took over his care. I can’t see George doing it.

I have no idea where Carl is today, because my parents subsequently moved away from Rio de Janeiro, and my tenuous link with that family was gone.

It’s hard not to believe that it would’ve been better for everyone – especially for Carl – had he not survived this tragic accident. Sometimes, death is infinitely preferable to a living death, which is all Carl had for the rest of his life, however long that may or may not have been.

Which brings me back to the subject of this article – be careful what you pray for because it might come true.