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Alabama man dying of cancer, and wheel-chair bound, gets baptized before death.


Added Date - Jan 20, 2020

Thomas Roberts was a man wheelchair-bound and dying of cancer. He was unable to breathe without oxygen tubes, but he had one final request before dying. Roberts wanted to be baptized.

 

For the majority of his life, Roberts had been an atheist. However, in September he decided that he wanted to celebrate his new faith with a baptism. His only request was to be fully submerged in the water.

 

Thankfully, a chaplain at his hospital worked to make this happen. Corey Agricola, one of the chaplains at the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital, created a team to make this baptism happen.

 

First, they needed to speak to Ashley Nichols, one of Roberts’ doctors. It was determined that he could only be off oxygen for a few seconds, at the most. This time constraint meant that they couldn’t roll him into the pool in a pool wheelchair. So, this team had to use a chairlift for the baptism.

 

Roberts was able to be baptized while surrounded by his family, which included his: wife, son, sisters, nephew, and niece. This was an emotional time for everyone involved, to see this former atheist baptized as one of the last requests of his life.

 

Although this was a moving experience, it was also bittersweet. Roberts only lived 6 days past his baptism. His family and friends will always remember his baptism and the focus of the last days of his life. 

Thomas Roberts was a man wheelchair-bound and dying of cancer. He was unable to breathe without oxygen tubes, but he had one final request before dying. Roberts wanted to be baptized.

 

For the majority of his life, Roberts had been an atheist. However, in September he decided that he wanted to celebrate his new faith with a baptism. His only request was to be fully submerged in the water.

 

Thankfully, a chaplain at his hospital worked to make this happen. Corey Agricola, one of the chaplains at the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital, created a team to make this baptism happen.

 

First, they needed to speak to Ashley Nichols, one of Roberts’ doctors. It was determined that he could only be off oxygen for a few seconds, at the most. This time constraint meant that they couldn’t roll him into the pool in a pool wheelchair. So, this team had to use a chairlift for the baptism.

 

Roberts was able to be baptized while surrounded by his family, which included his: wife, son, sisters, nephew, and niece. This was an emotional time for everyone involved, to see this former atheist baptized as one of the last requests of his life.

 

Although this was a moving experience, it was also bittersweet. Roberts only lived 6 days past his baptism. His family and friends will always remember his baptism and the focus of the last days of his life. 

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