Hand of Hope

I just discovered this photo, which has been around since 1999. Dave Hartline at The Catholic Report linked over to a blog entry about it just today.

This is actually a real image, not an urban legend or doctored photo. It is 21-week old Samuel Alexander Armas grabbing the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner, a surgeon. The fetus was diagnosed with Spina Bifida, and this operation, done in the womb, was the only hope for survival.

There is debate as to what actually happened here. The photographer of the event (Michael Clancy) saw the surgeon lift the baby’s hand out of the womb, and then saw baby Samuel grab Dr. Bruner’s hand. Dr. Bruner has downplayed the activity of Samuel, although he recognizes the whole event was “powerful.” However, check out the slideshow at Michael Clancy’s homepage, which shows the 21-week old fetus clearly grasping the hand of the surgeon. See “Hand of Hope” Analysis for basic information about this story.

All I can say is wow. It definitely makes you appreciate the life in the womb.

This entry was posted on October 18, 2006 at 3:16 am and is filed under Catholic, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Hand of Hope”

  1. LutherPunk Says:
    October 19, 2006 at 1:24 am

    There is something amazing about life that is in utero. When we saw our first ultrasound, and there were arms and legs and a heartbeat and motion, we knew it was a life, even at 9 weeks.

    Seeing the second one, at about 20 weeks, and being able to make out the contours of our girl’s face was evenmore amazing.

    We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made.

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