Elder Josh Burton's Impossible Recovery Before the Lord Called Him Home (Guatemala, 2013)

On the morning of Saturday, July 20, 2013, Elder Josh Burton, age 23, of Leavitt, Alberta, Canada, jumped into the back of a pickup truck with three other missionaries and five members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help a Guatemalan family move the structure of their home to a safer location. Josh had spent twenty months serving the people of Guatemala and knew this family needed his help. While ascending a narrow road along a steep hillside, the driver nudged toward the edge to make room for an oncoming vehicle, the shoulder gave way, and the pickup rolled, throwing out those in the back. Everyone could move afterward — all except Josh.

His diagnosis was grim: a massive concussion and two severely broken vertebrae. That afternoon Dr. Asmitia performed emergency surgery in Guatemala City, implanting eight pins to stabilize Josh's broken spine. On Sunday morning, mission president Jerry Curtiss called Josh's parents, Allan and Heather Burton, with Dr. Asmitia's prognosis: a 1 to 3 percent chance of ever walking, and up to a year and a half before significant progress even if he recovered. 'Yet we had hope,' his father said, 'that a 1 to 3 percent chance wasn't impossible where the Lord is involved.' Both missions Josh had served — the Guatemala City East Mission and the newly formed Guatemala Cobán Mission — joined family and friends in fasting and praying for a miracle.

And the miracle came. When President Curtiss, Dr. Cameron (the Church's regional medical advisor), and others gathered for an initial examination to see whether any motion existed in Josh's legs, Josh, under heavy doses of medication, failed to respond. Dr. Asmitia shouted, 'Josh, lift your legs!' Clenching his fists, Josh exerted all his strength, slowly lifted his knees from the bed, and raised his right foot. The doctors were shocked — some cried, others shook hands. Dr. Asmitia's knees gave way, and his assistant had to grab his arm to keep him from falling; one doctor went to the corner and raised his hands in prayer, knowing he had seen God at work. Dr. Asmitia pointed upward: 'It all came from up there.' In tears, Dr. Cameron called the Burtons: 'In 38 years of practice, I have seen a lot of miracles, but I have never seen something like this before.'

Yet that same day Josh's condition turned: swelling of his brain from the concussion caused his lungs and heart to fail, and after every effort to resuscitate him he passed away at 11:15 that Monday night, July 22, 2013. In the days that followed, Josh's father shared the tender mercy he and his wife saw in his passing: 'When the Lord showed us the miracle recovery of Josh's back, he let us and everyone that prayed for Josh know he heard our prayers. There's no doubt about that. But God knew it was Josh's time, so once he'd shown us, he called Josh home.'