A 15-month-old toddler in Arizona made a miraculous recovery after his Catholic community activated their faith and used a novena (a nine-day period of prayer) to return him to a picture of health. On March 2, 2025, Wesley Robinson found his son Vincent face down in the family’s hot tub.
Caitlin and Wesley Robinson, parents of eight children with one on the way, said that doctors performed CPR for 52 minutes on Vincent, who had a barely detectable, irregular pulse.
Eventually, doctors declared Vincent stable. Still, his recovery was not over. They placed him on oxygen, IV pain killers, paralytics, and other sedatives.
‘We were preparing ourselves for a funeral,’ Caitlin said.
Vincent’s mother thought they were going to lose him. “Sunday [March 2], Monday, Tuesday we were preparing ourselves for a funeral, really. And so it was three days on our knees and just praying incessantly,” Caitlin told OSV News. The couple, who’ve named their eight children after saints, prayed to all of them on behalf of their youngest son. They also called on their community for help.
The family used their network.
Wesley contacted Caitlin’s brother Father Dan Connealy, who lives two hours away in Flagstaff, Arizona. Father Connealy was preparing himself for a funeral mass for his nephew. When he got to Phoenix, he spent the day by his nephew’s bedside praying. Eventually, he asked his sister to contact her network to pray with them.
“It was really beautiful … a vulnerable moment where it’s like you can’t really process things. Her instinct was like, ‘Just get as many people praying as you can,’” Father Connealy said.
Caitlin tapped into her faith.
On the third day of Vincent’s hospitalization, one of the Robinsons’ friends sent a relic of the Blessed Michael McGivney. While Caitlin still had her doubts about her son’s recovery, the relic was a sign she needed more trust.
“We don’t actually ask God enough and so when we received the relic of Blessed McGivney I said, ‘OK, I’m just going to ask for total and complete healing, and I don’t think it’s going to work, but I’m going to ask for it and I trust,” she said.
Vincent kept getting better.
The Robinsons placed the relic on Vincent’s chest. That evening, doctors said he was no longer in the “end of life” stage. They deemed his recovery remarkable. Each day, they moved the relic to another part of his body. Every day, they heard good news.
Vincent’s MRI showed his organs had not been damaged. Doctors were able to remove his feeding tube and daytime oxygen. They discovered there was no more fluid in his lungs. Eventually, doctors transferred Vincent out of the intensive care unit to the regular floor. He was able to walk, swallow, and eat.
By the ninth day — the final day of the novena — doctors discharged Vincent from the hospital.
Caitlin said the whole trying ordeal was a great reminder. “We should all be calling on Christ and the saints and the angels,” Caitlin said. She added, “Like I said, intellectually we know this, but to feel it in this way, it’s just amazing.”
