Blessed Fulton Sheen & Are Plastics Harming Your Health?

Travis Engstrom (0:00)

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Monsignor Jason Gray (0:03)

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Andy (0:06)

The Drew Mariani Show.

SPEAKER_4 (0:08)

On Relevant Radio.

Drew Mariani (0:13)

Well, good afternoon and welcome back. It is great to be with you today. What an extraordinary day this is. If you've been tuned in to Relevant Radio, you've probably caught some of the beatification coverage that we've been able to provide here. And what an just an absolutely spirit-filled, grace-filled moment this has been for the church, both here in America and for the world. Archbishop Fulton Jay Sheen has impacted generations now and is continuing to do so.

And the power of his intercession still, to this day, pierces the clouds. And there's a story of a man, his name is Travis Engstrom and his wife.

It was a miracle that took place after they turned to him, after they incessantly called upon his intercession, that would ultimately lead to his beatification. And I had an opportunity to speak to Travis Engstrom, the father of James Fulton, the baby who was born without signs of life, a real miracle. You know, he had no heartbeat for 61 minutes. And yet, you know, God can do the impossible. I spoke to him, oh, several years ago. And I thought, for those of you who may not have heard his story, let me take you back in time to the miracle that led to the beatification of Fulton Sheen.

Travis and Bonnie were the parents of a young boy named James Engstrom. And James and his family are in the same area of Bishop Sheen. So Travis and Bonnie turned to Archbishop Sheen on the day that they found that their son, well, was born because, after what seemed like a normal pregnancy, they found out that James was stillborn. They needed a miracle. And I'm joined today by the father of James, Travis Engstrom. He is, you know, he just brought him home from the dentist today. And it's great to have you with me today, Travis. Good afternoon.

Monsignor Jason Gray (2:09)

Good afternoon. It's nice to be here.

Drew Mariani (2:10)

Thank you for taking time to share with us on the eve of this Thanksgiving.

Share the story, if you could. I know your wife chose a home birth because this was a great pregnancy for her. So James being stillborn was, I'm sure, totally unexpected for you. What was your initial reaction and what happened?

Travis Engstrom (2:29)

Yeah. So everything, like you said, it was, you know, completely normal. It was a great pregnancy and a great labor. And this is the third one. It was the best one we'd had so far. But then, like you said, when he was born, he just, he was stillborn. He was just gone, lifeless. You know, nothing was there.

We found out after the fact when they were checking out the placenta and umbilical cord and everything, that there was actually a knot that tightened when he descended. And that's what essentially killed him. You know, during the birth.

Drew Mariani (3:09)

And the birth was kind of short, too. I mean, her pregnancy went well, right? She had a short labor.

He was born. And then as you find out that suddenly he was, he died, right? He didn't have a heartbeat. How long was he without a heartbeat?

Travis Engstrom (3:24)

So our best medical records show that it was 61 minutes that he was dead.

Drew Mariani (3:31)

What happened? Did you call physicians in, doctor? I mean, what went down?

And I know that there were doctors at the OSF St. Francis Medical Center that were ready to call him, call the time of death. What happened? Bring us up to the scene. So you find out your child is stillborn. How did you react? How did your wife react? What happened next?

Travis Engstrom (3:48)

Right. So we both were just in shock, you know, like there's nothing that can prepare you for this moment of, you know, complete helplessness. And so when he was born, I know Bonnie started, you know, praying at the same time that I did an emergency baptism, you know, I baptized him in the name, the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, James Fulton after Fulton Sheen. And then, you know, kind of in short, it's about 20 minutes at home. We had a midwife and another birthing assistant there and another person who used to be a nurse in the NICU, and they were doing CPR. It's about 20 minutes at home. And then the ambulance got there, you know, and everyone was called, and about 20 minutes in the ambulance to the hospital, and then about 20 minutes in the ER, the doctors were working on him.