May 3 - Ron Mack

L.C. Mack Patriarch 1. by Ron Mack

I was blessed by Heaven to be born into a family of strong Christians; meaning my imperfect mother and father put Christ first.

Most know that our own son, Michael Mack, passed away at nearly 32 years old after a lifelong battle with serious multiple congenital heart defects. Many months were spent in the ICU after a heart operation called a Fontan, and then in recovery and rehab, learning to walk again.

At one of these times when he was 5 years old and in the ICU, everyone thought he was at the end. U of M Cardiology and Thoracic Surgery had played every card in their hand and were out of answers. As he bounced from tachycardia (rapid heart rate) to bradycardia (slow heart rate), Pediatric Cardiologist Dr Dennis Crawley informed all of us that Michael would only last a couple of hours at this rate. We had reached the Egyptian edge of the Red Sea. Our backs were against the wall.

In a small private room by the ICU my father L.C. Mack, my mother Janet, Carolyn and I were gathered for prayer. My father was very much the spiritual patriarch of the whole growing family. Dad led us to the throne of God in prayer. All I remember today is his statement. "Oh Lord, to whom else can we go? You alone have the words of Eternal life." He didn't mean this rhetorically. He wasn't speaking a Biblical Platitude. He meant it verbatim as he was talking directly to the God of this universe.

Against all Thoracic, Cardiology, and U of M ICU experience and expertise, something happened; Michael's arrhythmia returned to "normal." Although, we were told he would be be ventilator dependent the rest of his life and would never make it out of the hospital, the 5 year old came through a long, stormy recovery, eventually attended school, learned to sign (he had lost his hearing) and lived for another 27 years after that day, showing many doctors and nurses that there is a God in heaven who hears our prayers. The heart surgeon who witnessed it all wrote about the event from a medical perspective, published it in a medical journal, and changed the post-op care for patients following the Fontan procedure.