PRAYERS BOOST FAMILY DEALING WITH CHILD'S LIFE-THREATENING ILLNESS

Local schools and churches have united in prayer in hopes 9-year-old Lacey Edwards will recuperate from a life-threatening condition.

Edwards, a Cape Girardeau resident and daughter of Kevin and Diane Edwards, collapsed May 5 at her home after a blood vessel ruptured in her brain. She was treated at Saint Francis Medical Center last weekend before being transported by helicopter to St. Louis Children's Hospital on Monday.

She is listed in critical condition there. Her lungs were stable Friday afternoon. In a deep coma, she is being assisted by a ventilator.

Diane Edwards said Friday afternoon she has seen some improvement in her daughter's condition and credits the many prayers sent up on Lacey's behalf.

"We have faith. Right now, that's what we're operating on," she said. "Each day we see some strength there."

Doctors aren't sure if Lacey suffered a cerebral aneurysm or if there were an arterial vascular malformation.

An aneurysm is an abnormal spot in a blood vessel in which the wall becomes weaker and, in some cases, ruptures. An arterial vascular malformation is a tangle of blood vessels which can also rupture and bleed.

Swelling and bleeding make it difficult to diagnose the problem after a rupture occurs.

Experts at the Regional Brain and Spine Center say the incidence of ruptured aneurysm is approximately four out of 100,000 people per year.

Many people may be unaware they have a problem. It is only when an aneurysm or malformation ruptures that the condition becomes life-threatening.

That was the case with Lacey.

"One minute she was playing with her friends and new puppy, the next she was grabbing her temples," Diane Edwards said.

"She came to me and we sat her down and she went into a coma," Edwards continued. The family got her to the hospital quickly, but the doctors' prognosis has been grim.

Lacey's peers and teachers at Eagle Ridge Christian School are handling the situation with the best tool at their disposal: Prayer.

"We have prayer every morning and it's been the first thing on their lists," said Principal Janice Margrabe. "The biggest thing they can do is pray. It's one of benefits we have of being a Christian school."

A spokesperson at St. Vincent de Paul School, where Edwards formerly attended, said students there also are using class time to pray for their friend.

Counselor Paul Schniedermeyer of the Community Counseling Center said children can understand the seriousness of Edwards' condition if adults are honest and willing to discuss it.

"You have to be able to appreciate their level of understanding, which will vary by the age of the child and their maturity," he said. "It's not necessary to be blatantly honest, but try to be genuine."

Schniedermeyer suggests adults use words children understand to explain the situation, then allow them to ask questions.

"The most important thing is to keep the openness and the dialogue with them," said Schniedermeyer.

He did not discount the power of prayer. Children should be encouraged to do things -- make cards, send gifts or pray -- that help them feel less helpless.

"There's a meaning and a purpose to prayer," he said.

St. Vincent de Paul Church has opened its church 24 hours a day to allow parishioners to pray for the Edwards family. Margrabe said numerous prayer groups in town and throughout the nation have been activated on the family's behalf.

"Doctors don't give you lots of hope, but you have to stand on God's word," she said. "That's what we teach our children. That's what our students are standing on."

Some of the information in this report was contributed by Andrea L. Buchanan.