From Lifeless to Bursting with Energy

“Dixie County 911,” answers the operator.

A panicked, scared teenager...calling for help: “My sister fell in a pond,” cries the 17-year-old caller, Destiny Watson.  

Moments earlier, she discovered her 21-month-old sister, Naila, face down in the water.

“Her body was cold and white stuff just running all out of her nose. It looked like there was no coming back,” says Destiny.

Clutching Naila’s lifeless body, Destiny ran to the house calling out for her older sister, Chloe.

“I was shocked,” says Chloe. “I tried to speak to the police, but I couldn’t, Destiny had to.”

Naila wasn’t breathing, and they couldn’t find a pulse. For several minutes, the 911 operator guided Destiny and Chloe through CPR. Then, finally...

“Oh, she’s breathing! She’s breathing!” exclaims Destiny. “Guys, she’s breathing. But, barely.”

When paramedics arrived moments later, the frightened teenagers called their parents, Tabre and Dwayne, at work.

“I don’t think I really knew how to feel,” says Tabre. “It really hit me like, ‘Whoa, this is unthinkable. This is—this is unthinkable.”

Naila had to be air lifted to University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. On the drive there, Tabre and Dwayne tried to make sense of what happened.

“All I basically was able to do was just keep repeating, ‘By His stripes, Naila, you’re healed,’” says Dwayne.

“I didn’t know how to pray. I didn’t have words,” says Tabre. “All I know is I need Jesus, but I don’t know what to say to Him right now.”

Naila was taken to the Pediatric ICU, still unconscious and on life support. When Dwayne and Tabre walked in, the staff surrounding their baby girl stepped away.

“Nobody was saying anything. And in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘Is she alive?’” says Tabre. “But I didn’t want to ask anybody that. I didn’t want to say that out of my mouth.”

“What I saw was my baby, you know? I saw my baby girl and-and,” says Dwayne. “But she was just lying there, motionless. Part of me was still kinda in disbelief.”

“And I just said, ‘You will live and you will not die, in the name of Jesus,’” says Tabre. “Not really knowing where she was, but wanting to believe that-that God would-would heal my baby.”

After hours of testing, a doctor brought news. Naila had suffered an anoxic brain injury. She was in a deep coma, and showed almost no brain activity. They also said it was unlikely Naila would ever wake up. Even IF she did, she would be in a vegetative state.

“Basically, she was—we were told she was dead at that point,” says Dwayne.

“I literally started screaming, ‘No!’” says Tabre. “She cannot tell me that. ‘God, you gave me this child.’ Like, ‘No, I cannot be told this.’”

“I didn’t want to accept that and wasn’t going to accept it,” says Dwayne. “And again, I just immediately just continued praying.”

By then, dozens of friends, pastors, and family members packed the waiting room, praying with Naila’s family for a miracle.

“By His stripes, she is healed,” says Dwayne. “I just continued to repeat that over and over again.”

“They’re telling me there’s nothing else they can do for my baby, but I know Who can,” says Tabre. I had to stand on THE word of God and not their word. It really didn’t matter what they said.”

Later that afternoon, Tabre was in Naila’s room with medical staff, when suddenly...

“Naila Jade just jumped,” says Tabre. “Her body just, you know, just kinda jerked out of nowhere. God was sending us a message that she was going to be okay.”

Doctors cautioned that it could be simply a nerve reaction and they shouldn’t get their hopes up. In the coming hours, though, the movements increased. Suspecting Naila was having seizures, doctors put her under sedation and continued to monitor her through the night. The next day, they had seen no evidence of seizures, and even under sedation, Naila’s body continued to move and respond.

“And by this point, I’m like laughing with God, ‘You are so cool,’” laughs Tabre. “Like He’s showing us that she’s okay.”

One of Naila’s doctors agreed.

“She’s like, ‘What we witnessed is truly a miracle. The fact that she’s moving is a miracle,’” says Tabre.

Later that day, Naila’s heart and lungs were functioning on their own, and doctors were able to take her off life support. They also brought Naila out of sedation. When she woke up...

“My sweet baby Naila, who just two days ago was basically pronounced dead. But God!” says Tabre. “She went from lifeless, to no sedative being able to stop her from moving. She was ready to get up.”

As Naila continued to recover, an MRI confirmed she had no brain damage. Then, on New Year's Eve, four days after her brush with death, Naila was cleared to go home.

“I was just overjoyed. That was one of the happiest moments of my life,” says Dwayne.

Today Naila shows no effects from the trauma. And for her family, the events of that week showed them firsthand the goodness and mercy of God.

“I really had doubts about God, but after her incident, I would—I would never again doubt that God exists,” says Chloe.

“I know that I serve a big God who is real and He answers. And so, we just can’t wait to see, you know, what God does with the rest of her life,” says Tabre.

“Thank you, Jesus!” says Naila.