Power of Prayer: Injured shipbuilder showing improvement as community lifts him up in prayer

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) - A longtime employee at Ingalls Shipbuilding continues to make progress after being critically injured last week. As Randy Wade continues to fight for his life, friends and family continue to pray for his recovery.

The test tanker at Ingalls was critically injured last week when a tank lid his head while he was working on the USS Fort Lauderdale LPD 28.

Doctors initially told Wade’s wife Robin that he had the worst brain injury they had ever seen and very little, if any, chance of recovery. But, shortly after, things slowly started to shift and Wade began to show small signs of progress.

“He is a fighter, and I definitely think he can do this because he has shown very small signs of responsiveness and just small victories here and there,” said Wade’s stepdaughter Katie McElhenney.

Family members attribute Wade’s progress to the prayers that have poured in from people across the Coast following Wade’s accident.

“We definitely are leaning on the power of prayer right now because the doctors said that there was nothing they could do,” said McElhenney. “So, at that point, all we really have is prayer, and just praying that God pulls him through this.”

And what’s happened so far with Wade’s condition has amazed everyone.

“The doctors said they really can’t believe it,” McElhenney added. “They said they’ve never seen anything like this before. His cranial pressure is just like mine and yours. It’s completely normal, which is a miracle. It can’t be explained.”

With hands lifted in prayer on Sunday, dozens of people gathered outside Mosaic Church in Ocean Springs to continue lifting Randy and his family up in prayer.

“It has been completely overwhelming just how many people have said such wonderful things about Randy and just showed up to support him,” said McElhenney.

Among those gathered was long-time friend Ryan Allen.

“When they talk about people who’ll give you the shirt off their back, he’s the guy they’re talking about,” he said. “Never really met a stranger. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been over there, been welcomed in from the first time I met him to the 1,000th time I met him.”

Mosaic Church pastor Brandon Conner said it’s all about trust.

“You have to say, ‘Okay, God is at work in this situation.’ And when God goes to work in a situation, it gives us great hope,” said Conner.

McElhenney said that doctors at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson will run tests on Thursday to see if Wade can breathe well enough on his own to be safely taken off life support.

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