By Dennis Kellogg
Director of Communications
Marissa Zoubek could hear the panic in her young son’s voice when she answered the phone call.
“Mom, Macie got stuck under the water” and “CPR” is all she remembers him saying.
The kids were with a close family friend, swimming in a river outside of their town of Powers, Ore., in the summer of 2025. Marissa was at work, but left right away to drive to the accident scene. When she got there, 5-year-old Macie was out of the water and breathing again, but not coherent.
Paramedics worked on the young girl in the back of an ambulance for “quite some time.” They would eventually take her to a hospital in Eugene, and then fly her to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.
“We had arranged to have a chaplain there at both hospitals, whichever one she’d end up with, because having somebody praying over her was very, very important to us,” Marissa said.
Marissa and her husband Matt grew up in southeast Nebraska. She describes her parents, Bob and Deb VanWesten, as “very strong Catholics” and said growing up, prayer was always a big part of the family’s daily routine.
“But I can honestly say, as an adult, I probably didn’t pray as often as I should have,” she said.
Now, with her daughter in a Portland hospital room and her future uncertain, Marissa called her parents in Alexandria, Neb., and asked for prayers.
“I said, all the prayers that we can get. That’s what I want. I just want everybody praying for the best.”
Her parents reached out to their family and friends, and called Father Justin Fulton, who for the past two years has been the pastor of about 200 families at St. Mary Parish in Alexandria and St. Michael Parish in Fairbury.
Father Fulton said the parishes and communities have come together before to pray for people in difficult situations.
“It’s better to have more people in the boat rowing together and praying together than just a few,” he said. “The most important thing we can do as a Church is to pray for you.”
That boat soon got very crowded.
“(Father Fulton) shared it with his congregation, and it just reached communities throughout Nebraska with all of my family,” Marissa said. “I’d have people say, ‘Can I add Macie to our prayer circle?’… And it was like, ‘absolutely.’ It’s unbelievable how many people were praying for her. Just thousands and thousands of prayers were put up for her.”
After hours of waiting at the hospital in Portland, Marissa and Matt finally got to see Macie.
“She was alive,” Marissa said. “They had a breathing tube in her. She was put in a medically induced coma to protect her brain… The doctors were very concerned about brain damage.”
Two days passed. Then, Macie began to breathe on her own. Marissa said Macie wasn’t herself for about two more days, but they finally started to see positive signs that she would recover.
“The main doctor said they never see results like this with somebody who almost drowned, and he said it was nothing short of a miracle,” Marissa said. “And the prayers that were going up. He and the nurses said something special happened here.”
Macie has made a complete recovery, with no lingering effects from the accident. Marissa said Macie, who will be 7 years old in November, is the same “spunky little girl” she was before she nearly drowned.
“She’s doing amazing,” Marissa said. “She loves school. She just loves life.”
Marissa said she is also doing better as well, having experienced the true power of prayer.
“I will be honest. I struggled because for a time, we thought we had lost our daughter,” Marissa said. “We really didn’t know if we were going to that hospital and turning around and coming home. So, I think for that brief period—those hours that I thought I had lost her—affected me for a very long time. Like I was grieving her, even though she was still with us. But once I turned to starting my day off with morning prayers, listening to or reading devotionals… it has changed my (life). I’ve always had faith, but it’s just made it so much more powerful that it’s just a part of my daily life now.”
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Father Fulton said prayer has a way of changing lives, and bringing us peace.
“Prayer is a personal relationship, where you’re actually talking to someone who’s in charge of it all—the celebration of joys, the celebration of happiness and community, the struggles, the doubt, the worrying, the fear, the anxiety. It’s a relationship with God,” he said. “The devil flees from prayer, and prayer doesn’t bring about bad things. If we allow God to communicate with us, and we communicate with God, there will be more peace. It won’t be perfect, but there will be a closeness and a peace that is beyond our understanding, and that’s what God desires for all of his children.”
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Paige Arnold of Fairbury knows God listens to prayers. She still has PTSD from what happened one day last year. Paige was looking out a window from her home when she saw her 7-year-old daughter Ella being attacked by two dogs. Ella had been riding her bike, but now she was on the ground with the dogs on top of her.
“When I got over there (the dog) had his jaw locked on her face,” Paige said. “I got down on the dog and was trying to pry it off of her, and it had a pretty strong grip.”
Ella suffered injuries to her face, her neck and her carotid artery. She also had a three-inch gash on her leg from the attack. Paige, who suffered her own injuries from the dogs biting her legs, rushed Ella to the local hospital and from there, she was life-flighted to Children’s Hospital in Omaha.
That’s when the prayers from St. Michael Parish and the Fairbury community started.
“Father Fulton was amazing. He called us and asked if it would be OK if the church could pray and we were perfectly fine with that,” Paige said.
Paige, although not Catholic at the time, had recently started attending Mass with her husband, who was Catholic. Word of the attack on Ella spread quickly, and so did the prayers.
“We had people reaching out, over and over, saying, ‘We’re praying for her. We’re praying for her,’” Paige recalled. “Everybody was praying for her and I think that truly, her recovery is because of that.”
Ella, who is now 8 years old, recently had a follow-up medical appointment in Omaha and her mom said “she’s doing phenomenal!” Paige said every prayer for her daughter was amazing and appreciated.
“I would love to give every single person that prayed for us a hug, but I might be hugging for days!”
Paige said all those prayers didn’t just help her daughter, they had an impact on her as well.
“I think Ella’s accident truly has changed me,” she said. “At the time, you question God. Like, ‘Why God? Why would you let this happen? Why would you do this?’ And so I kind of went through a period where I was kind of hurting and wondering why.
“And then I started going to church, and it was my first day back at church. And Father Fulton’s homily was about being angry with God, and I just burst into tears because I knew God was speaking to me, and I knew He was trying to get me closer to Him.”
Father Fulton said God wants all of us to be closer to him and there’s no better way to make that happen than through prayer.
“As the community has prayed more fervently, we can definitely see God’s grace working through those prayers to bring people closer together and naturally share his love with one another,” he said.
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Prayer has been a part of Megan Grant’s faith journey as well. Her son Simon, an eighth-grader at Fairbury Junior-Senior High School, was born with a liver disease. He had surgery when he was five weeks old, but that did not fix the problem. Every year since, he has traveled to Omaha for more tests and blood work to monitor his condition.
“Before last May (2025), there was really no complication that prevented him from just living a normal childhood life. He could be as active as he wanted,” Megan said.
That changed last year, though. Simon had some pain in his stomach that became serious. He went into septic shock because his intestine had twisted and was cutting off his blood supply. The 13-year-old has spent the last year on a waiting list for a multi-visceral transplant.
The Fairbury community has responded, sending Simon cards and providing meals for the family during Simon’s health struggles. And then—again—there are the prayers.
“Especially after what happened last year, it was encouraging to see our community come together and support our family and to support him,” Megan said. “I still get people coming up and asking how he’s doing and say that they’ve been praying for him, they’ve been praying for us. Several churches in our community have him on their prayer list, so not even St. Michael’s alone. My husband’s a member of Grace Lutheran Church here in Fairbury, and (Simon’s) on the prayer list there. And I know other churches here in town also have him on their prayer list. It’s humbling to know so many people care, and encouraging to see so many people can be united in one prayer for him like that.”
During the past year Simon has been waiting for a transplant, Megan said all those prayers have helped the family put his health in God’s hands. She said she’s found prayer can offer peace in one’s life.
“If you’re praying because you’re mad about a situation, or you’re thankful for a situation, you don’t understand a situation, just coming to God with your anxieties and your worries and what you are grateful for can offer a sense of peace,” Megan said. “God’s in control of it all. He already knows. It’s His plan. It’s His will.”
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For these families and these communities, coming together in prayer means everyone is praying more often. Father Fulton said that grows our relationship with God.
“Bring everything to Jesus throughout the day. It shouldn’t take tragedy to bring things to Jesus,” Father Fulton said. “If you’re out in your combine, if you’re in your office, if you’re getting ready in the morning, if you’re driving, whatever it is, just bring things to Him throughout the day, and you will feel his closeness, and his grace will be working through you and getting to others. Don’t be afraid to just pray always. Pray without ceasing as St. Paul says.”
Father Fulton said he’s proud of the way his parishioners in Fairbury and Alexandria answered the call to pray for their neighbors in their time of distress. They got down on their knees to lift up Macie, Ella and Simon and their families. And that’s exactly what they needed.
“When it comes to people needing help, the most powerful thing you can do is to pray for somebody… The tragedy of it was horrific. But then when you can see God working in the tragedy, that was inspiring.”
That’s the power of prayer in a small town.
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‘Thank you for praying’
Marissa Zoubek wrote the following message to Father Justin Fulton, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Alexandria and St. Michael Parish in Fairbury, on the anniversary of her daughter Macie’s near-drowning accident:
Good morning! I’m Bob and Deb VanWesten’s daughter, Marissa Zoubek. One year ago today our little girl, Macie, nearly drowned. My parents were the first call I made after my husband. I recall asking them to contact my siblings even though we didn’t know at the time if she’d even make it to a hospital. I knew our little Macie needed as many prayers as possible. I didn’t hesitate one second when Dad asked if you could post something to the St. Michael’s page. I would like to thank you for praying for our little girl and spreading the request for prayers throughout your congregations and community.
I had a conversation yesterday with a co-worker of mine, who happens to also be a pastor. We were discussing how Macie had people praying for her nationwide. Friends and acquaintances of our family, friends, co-workers, etc. I recall people reaching out and asking if they could add Macie to their prayer circles. My answer was always an immediate YES!
I’ve always had faith in our dear Lord and believed in the power of prayer. However, after living through a near tragedy my faith is stronger than ever. I’ve had other people tell me the same thing after witnessing the miracle of Macie surviving. I’m happy to say she is thriving and has no lasting effects from the accident. The doctors and nurses even told us she was nothing short of a miracle when she was released less than a week later. I truly believe that God had other plans for our little girl, and the prayers said for her truly saved her life. I want to thank you again for praying and asking for prayers over our little girl. She truly is a blessing!
“It was the morning of the anniversary of Macie’s accident, and I was pretty emotional that day,” Marissa remembered about writing the note to Father Fulton. “And it was just like, ‘Wow, we made it a whole year, and our girl is thriving!’ And I just felt like at that point, I wanted to share it with somebody. I mean, my family knows that I believe that the prayers really helped. But I just wanted to share my story.”
She said the experience was a true example of how the power of prayer can help people and help families in situations where it seems like honestly, there was no hope.
“And then once the prayers started happening,” Marissa said, “and I was following Father Fulton’s post on St. Michael’s, he had posted a couple updates, and then seeing the comments, I just felt like he was able to reach and guide people and the prayers to say.”
Marissa reflected that she knows “some people, they say, ‘Well, I pray, but I don’t know how,’ and I used to be one of those, too. Like, I don’t know what to say, what to pray for, and he was putting the prayers out there. And I just thought that really made a huge impact and helped reach people who maybe just didn’t know how or what to pray.”
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Prayer for the Grieving
Jesus, you wept at the death of your friend Lazarus. Console those who are now grieving the loss of a loved one. Let them be comforted in the remembrance of your promises. Give to those who mourn peace in the midst of their tears. You are the resurrection and the life. We know and believe this. Let the despairing find hope and the brokenhearted receive the consolation of your presence and your love. Amen.
From EWTN
