Pope Leo XIV has formally recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of a 19th-century Spanish priest, citing the unexpected survival of a premature baby in Rhode Island in 2007.
According to a report by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and reported by NBC 10 News, a baby named Tyquan was born by emergency cesarean section at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket on January 14, 2007, following complications including oxygen deprivation. Doctors did not expect the child to survive. (RELATED: World’s Most Premature Baby, Born At 21 Weeks, Celebrates First Birthday After Beating 0% Odds Of Survival)
Pope Leo XIV declared the 2007 recovery of a premature baby at a Rhode Island hospital a miracle, crediting the physician’s prayer with saving the baby’s life. Little Tyquan Hall was born via cesarean section, suffered from oxygen deprivation, and was pale, cyanotic, and barely… pic.twitter.com/9eT7S60X2P
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The attending physician, a Spanish national, reportedly prayed to Salvador Valera Parra, a priest from Huércal-Overa, Spain, who died in 1889. Shortly after the prayer, the baby’s heart began to beat spontaneously, without medical intervention, according to the dicastery’s report.
Tyquan was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at Women & Infants Hospital with a diagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Although doctors anticipated severe neurological impairment, the child reportedly developed normally — speaking at 18 months, walking at age two, and later participating in sports.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence announced the Vatican’s recognition Friday. “The miracle… is a reminder of the power of prayer and the intercession of holy men and women,” said Rev. Timothy Reilly, chancellor of the diocese.
The recognition advances Valera Parra’s cause for beatification. Born in 1816 and ordained in 1840, Parra was known for his service during epidemics and natural disasters in Spain.
Investigators from Spain began reviewing the case in Rhode Island in 2014.
“The cool thing is, the more you think about the miracle itself, Father Valera lives in the 19th century,” Reilly said. “He never came to the U.S. We have no knowledge of him coming here. Never came to Rhode Island. And yet, because the doctor called out and called upon his name for help in the situation back in ’07 on behalf of that little baby, he decided to intervene and ask God for a miracle.”
Memorial Hospital closed in 2018.
