I was doing dishes.  I had just given my mom my one month old daughter, Alexis, to feed so I could help with the house.  My hands were soapy when I answered the phone...

It was my grandma.  I couldn’t understand her.  My mom also picked up the phone from the bedroom.  I remember my grandma saying, “Sherri, Sherri - Devin drowned; you need to be here for your sister.”  I didn’t know what to do.  My mom starting screaming, “Oh my God, Oh my God!"  I yelled at her to help calm her down.  I was afraid she would drop the baby.  She was shaking and crying.

There were two things weird about this.  One week before Devin drown, my mom had a dream that he would.  Anytime we were at their place she would say, “ I hate this backyard.  I hate that canal.  Something is going to happen to Devin."

The other thing is that the night Devin near-drown, my mom was planning to go out of town to visit a friend she had not seen in a while; but at the last minute decided not to go.  She decided to stay home to be with her new granddaughter.

My mom drove to the hospital.  My fiancé was not home and I was trying to focus on feeding my daughter but I couldn’t.  Every time I looked down at her I felt Michelle’s pain.  I had only known my daughter for one month and just the thought of something happening to her made me physically and emotionally sick.  Michelle had loved her son  for 18 months, and I couldn’t imagine the pain she felt.

My sister had left for a movie 20 minutes prior to the call.  She was with her boyfriend. His house is on the road that the canal goes under.  When they left his house the kids were playing; throwing rocks in the canal where Devin's body would have passed.

She answered her cell phone and I said, “ The baby, the baby!”  I was freaking out. My sister yelled back, "What happened to Alexis?”  I said, “Devin drowned, Devin drowned!”  She starting crying really hard.  She said she was coming home.  She got home a few minutes later.

We did not know what to do.  I called my dad, I tried to find my fiancée, and I kept calling the hospital but no one would tell me anything.  We just couldn’t believe it.  We cried and cried.

It seemed like hours, but after about 45 minutes my mom called us.  She said that Devin had a pulse and was in very critical condition and was being flown to Phoenix.  She said they were on their way to Phoenix.

Michelle, my grandmother, my mom, and my uncle stopped by our house on their way to Phoenix.  Michelle was so strong.  I remember her commenting on our new floor tile.  She wanted to know why we got a house full of tile with a new baby.  She couldn’t talk about Devin.  While I cried, SHE comforted me.

My mom called us through the night.  In the morning she called to tell us to come to Phoenix; that we needed to say goodbye to Devin.  The nurses and doctors said he would not make it.  Me, my sister, and my cousin Nathan got in the car and left.

My sister Samantha’s boyfriend drove us.  The whole way there we listened to “There Can be Miracles” by Mariah Carey.  We cried all the way; looking at pictures we had taken of our little monster baby boy.

I kept thinking to myself , 'Miracles don’t happen and that I had to deal with the reality of what happened and that I might not make it to see Devin alive ever again'.

We went to the wrong hospital and since we were dropped off, I was ready to walk in downtown Phoenix if I needed to - to get to Devin.  My mom came and got us and told us all about the night, what to expect, and that we were probably going to lose him today according to doctors.

It hurt so bad to see him.  I went in first.  Those tubes in him were like knives in my heart.  It was so terrible.  He lived the day and I had to get back home to Cottonwood to take care of my own new baby. 

I was alone when I said goodbye to Devin.  He was in a coma but I told him I was sorry for not visiting him more when he was well and for not having him spend the night more too.  I prayed it was not the last time I would see him alive.  I told him I loved him and I said goodbye.  I did not want to remember him this way.  Michelle hugged and kissed me and told me it would be ok.  I slept all the way home.  I had cried for 24 hours straight.

There are a lot of emotions involved but all that matters is that now, I have seen miracles happen.  Miracle after miracle - and those come from God.  I think in Devin’s experience, God was teaching everyone something - especially me. 

In the song “There Can be Miracles” it says ,"...when you believe…"  And we did.  I did.  We prayed for it and God answered our prayers.

Devin’s tragic accident and courageous recovery has taught me a lot.  Though I would take the accident away for anything, I am happy with how Devin is doing and how our family has never been closer.

Devin is a miracle and has truly shown the world what God can do and what can happen “...when you believe!”