The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and could not survive outside the womb without surgery.

 

Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta  She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure.  Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in  Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.  During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via  C-section and makes  a small incision to operate on the  baby. 

 

As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger.

 

Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile. 

 

The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity.  The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope."

 

The text  explaining the picture begins, "The tiny hand of  21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if  thanking the doctor for the gift of life."

 

Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture.  She said, "The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person."

 

Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful.  Now see the actual picture, it is  awesome...incredible....and hey, pass  it on.  The world needs to   see this one!

Don't tell me God isn't Awesome!!!!!



There are two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  

    The other is as though everything is a miracle.    (Albert Einstein )

Submitted by: DT,  Troy Michigan