In 2007, a premature baby named Tyquan Hall was born at Memorial Hospital in Rhode Island with severe complications—no heartbeat, oxygen deprivation, and a grim prognosis. After 65 minutes of failed resuscitation attempts, Spanish-born physician Dr. Juan Sánchez-Esteban, desperate and out of options, prayed to Father Salvador Valera Parra, a 19th-century priest from his hometown in Spain. Miraculously, Tyquan’s heart began beating again without medical intervention, and he went on to develop normally, defying expectations of brain damage or disability.

This extraordinary recovery was recently declared the first official miracle of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy. The Vatican attributed the event to divine intercession, advancing Father Valera Parra’s cause for sainthood. Church investigations began in 2014, culminating in the June 2025 decree. Dr. Sánchez-Esteban, now a neonatologist at Women & Infants Hospital, released a statement acknowledging the emotional impact of such recoveries, though he refrained from discussing specific patients due to privacy laws.

The miracle not only highlights the power of prayer but also marks a historic moment for Pope Leo XIV—the first American pope—and for the Catholic Church’s process of canonization. Tyquan’s story continues to inspire hope and faith across communities.