A Young Saint Carried Home Speechless on a Plank From a Merthyr Coal-Pit Jumps Out of Bed When John Davis Lays Hands on Him (1849)

A young member was brought home speechless on a plank after an accident at a coal-pit. John Davis visited him, and upon laying hands on him in the presence of onlookers, the young man recovered immediately and jumped out of bed.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

This day week, I think, I was called to a young Saint that had been carried home speechless upon a plank, from the coal-pit, and in a state that his black comrades thought would soon terminate in death, for they seemed afraid to take him further than the mouth of the pit. When I visited the house, a great number of his fellow-workmen and others had assembled to witness the “miracle;” and no sooner had I entered, than the crowd followed, and filled the house. I succeeded, however, in persuading them to go out, except one, but their black faces still covered the window, and were determined to have a peep at the miracle. After that, I proceeded to view my patient, whom I found speechless in bed; and, with the assistance of a priest, I got him in a sitting posture, and without any anointing, laid my hands upon him, when he recovered at once, and jumped out of bed, quite well.