If prayers are answered, the Catholic community in Little Rock will witness the complete recovery of Mary Drake, a 17-year-old Mount St. Mary Academy student who was critically injured in a head-on collision on her way home after raking leaves for her grandparents in Pine Bluff Nov. 22.
Through Jim and Patti Drake's parish, Christ the King, and their daughter's current and former schools, thousands of people are rallying around them, supporting them with prayers, home-cooked meals and now fundraisers.
On March 11 the first Mary Drake Hope Fund fundraiser called Miracles for Mary was held at the Jack Stephens Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The celebrity basketball game saluted Mary's time on the MSM Belles team as a guard. At least 250 one-of-a-kind auction items also generated more money for the fund.
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The game featured former NBA star Joe Kleine, who is now the assistant basketball coach at UALR and member of Christ the King Church, as well as boxer Jermain Taylor, Corliss Williamson, the new coach at the University of Central Arkansas, former Razorback basketball player Scotty Thurman and former Razorback football players Clint Stoerner and Anthony Lucas. MSM and Catholic High School players and local radio and television anchors also played. The game ended, appropriately, in a tie.
MSM president Sister Deborah Troillett, RSM, led the audience of about 3,500 in prayer and ended with the Hail Mary, which is prayed at every MSM basketball game in honor of Drake.
Ann Morris, ticket chairwoman, said when the event was originally going to be held at Catholic High School, "we got 1,000 tickets."
When the fundraiser was moved to UALR, another 1,110 tickets were ordered, but at least 1,400 more people showed up at the door to pay the $10 entry fee.
Thanks to Kleine, "we are getting (the Jack Stephens Center) for no charge," Morris said.
On March 13, the Catholic High School 7A baseball tournament game against Fayetteville at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock was turned into another fundraiser. Mary's brothers, Michael and Paul, attended CHS and now are in college.
All of the funds will go toward the medical costs to treat Mary at Arkansas Children's Hospital and eventual rehabilitation.
Patti Drake said her daughter suffered a severe head injury as well as breaking bones in her face, arms and legs. For the first three weeks she was in the intensive care unit. Now she is on the rehabilitation floor and gets about three hours of physical, occupational and speech therapy each day, Patti Drake said. She is standing and taking steps with assistance but does not have recognizable speech at this time. She will have a follow-up surgery on her head March 19.
Patti Drake said she has been overwhelmed by the generosity of parishioners, parents and students.
"Through all of this, people are good," she said. "They want to help in some way or another. We are trying to focus on Mary and Mary's recovery. Focusing on the bad things won't help Mary. We are of the faith of hope and life. God has a plan for Mary… I know in my heart that God is using Mary as an instrument for some reason. Every bit of it is a God thing."
"It is overwhelming," said Becky Ridgeway, Mary's aunt, of the response to the fundraiser and other outreach to the family. "There are no words to describe it. Their faith is what is sustaining them."
When asked to describe her niece, Ridgeway said, "Sweet Mary, she really is. She is very natural. What you see is what you get."
Patti Drake said, "Mary has a sweet heart. She has a sweet spirit. She is a good girl. She has her head on straight. That is why it is so hard for her friends. They don't understand why this has to happen to Mary."
Morris, athletic director at Christ the King School, said many Catholic schools are praying for Drake's healing. Through a Web site called CaringBridge, where the family posts daily updates, "There are people all over the world praying," Morris said.
Morris said it is the strong faith of Jim and Patti Drake that made it possible.
"They are so strong in their faith," she said. "You can see it when they write stuff on CaringBridge that God is the center of their life."
Jim and Patti Drake are also known in the parish for serving as extraordinary ministers of the holy Communion. They are coordinators of the perpetual adoration chapel.
"They started the adoration chapel," Morris said.
Patti Drake is the president of the diocesan school board.
Morris has known the family for many years and has watched the Drake children excel at sports, particularly basketball. The parents coached for several years.
Morris also knows Blaine, a student at Catholic High School and Mary's boyfriend, who was in the car wreck but was not seriously injured.
"He played basketball at (Immaculate Con ception). … He is a top-notch kid," she said.
Many of the Christ the King basketball players wear black Mary Drake shirts with her Belles number 13 on it. Morris said some of the teams in their huddle before the game say "1, 2, 3, Mary Drake."
The students at Christ the King, who know several of Mary's cousins, pray for her during each class. Some sixth-grade girls even sold cookies and lemonade to raise money for the fund.
At Mount St. Mary Academy, the student got to wear orange, Mary's favorite color, on her 17th birthday Feb. 26. They also sent her a video birthday message. In February her fellow classmates named her to the homecoming court.
To donate to the Mary Drake Hope Fund, send a check to P.O. Box 241342, Little Rock, AR 72223.
Through a Web site called CaringBridge, Jim and Patti Drake's daily updates on their daughter's progress have generated more than 195,000 Web visits. Some days are slow and merit entries like "Mary was a little grumpy today, but I guess she is entitled. She really seems to be getting tired of that bed." Other days they are upbeat and begin their entry "AGDFM" (another good day for Mary). But all of the entries convey their hope in Mary Drake's recovery and their faith in Christ. The entries end in a typical fashion: "God is good … all the time" or "Jesus, we place our trust in you."
Nov. 24
"We must go through the cross to find resurrection. The cross in our lives would not be worth it if there was not resurrection."
Feb. 21
"We are constantly asked how we can stay so strong and the answer is always the same. We have faith that God will continue to hold Mary until he is ready for us to have her back. Our strength also comes from all of you who pray for Mary and for our family that we will all continue to have the strength to carry this cross."
March 1
"This journey has taught me that patience is a way to attain grace. I know that Mary is being so patient so I can be too."
March 4
"We were told from the beginning of this journey that it would be a marathon not a sprint. Mary has done a great job in her training period. She is getting close to starting her marathon … In this journey with Mary, we have been through many seasons. We went through Thanksgiving, thanking God for the gift of Mary's life. We went through Advent, waiting to see what God had in store for Mary. We now are in the season of Lent. A season of repentance and penance. A season to pray to God and for others. A time to walk through the desert with Christ asking him to always be present with us. It is then that we will be able to behold the resurrection."
