"They told me that he would not live through the night, but… I had a strong impression that God was saying, 'He will live and not die.' We found out later that this was from Psalm 118, which says that 'he will live and not die and declare the glory of God' and that's what he's doing right now. The thing is, that I had no fear; no anxiety. I had this peace come over me and I just knew that word from the Lord was truth." -Shirley Boone
(Beverly Hills, CA)—Tuesday, June 19, 2001, was the worst day in the lives of veteran American entertainer Pat Boone and his wife, Shirley, for it was then that they received the shocking news that their eldest grandson, Ryan Corbin, then 25 years old, had fallen through a skylight on the roof of the condo where he was living in Southern California, and came extremely close to losing his life. (Photo by: Dan Wooding/ANS)
His skull was crushed as he fell three floors to a cement floor below. Many thought Ryan would never awaken from the deep coma of his mind. Then, if he did, there was the dreaded fear that he would survive at best in a vegetative state.
But then, the Assist News Service, and many other media outlets and individuals, including veteran TV host, Larry King, launched prayer campaigns for Ryan, whose mother is Lindy Boone Michaels, one of the four Boone daughters, and slowly but surely he has been making an astonishing recovery, and on Sunday, June 1, 2014, he was able to join his famous grandparents at a special event in Beverly Hills, California, to celebrate Pat Boone's 80th birthday.
In fact Larry King was on hand to be one of the main "hosters and roasters" for the "Pat Boone 80th Birthday Celebrity Roast" at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in honor of Ryan's Reach, named after Ryan Corbin, who was in attendance.
The proceeds from the evening's celebration will enable Ryan's Reach to continue caring for those they serve, as well as addressing long term goals of establishing a group home for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivors.
"He's living proof that miracles do occur," said Pat during our chat on the Red Carpet. "Now this is a progressive miracle especially as on the night he was wounded, the doctors didn't think he would live."
I asked Pat why he agreed to be "roasted" by so many of his Hollywood friends, and he replied, "The family wanted to do this to raise money for Ryan's Reach. We have already had a golf tournament [for which he wore a kilt], a 5k to 10k run, but still I told them they didn't understand that I was not anxious to advertise the fact that I'm 80, saying, 'Why would I do that?'
"Secondly I was aware that experts, professionals, would have trouble pulling something like this together. So I questioned why they thought they could do something like this. I was afraid that it would be a disaster and they would spin their wheels. I know a lot of entertainers, and they know me, and we have a good repartee, but the family pressed on and thought they'd all come running. In fact it just occurred to me that I need to make up a lot of excuses for those who are not here, such as Jay Leno, Don Rickles, Jamie Foxx, Billy Crystal, and all of them. But there are a number of great people who are here who are going to roast me so I'm ready." (Photo via ANS)
The guests included Jon Voight, Shirley Jones, Rich Little, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., Lou Ferrigno, Rosey Grier, Peter Marshall, Susan Stafford, and double Oscar winner and composer, Al Kasha and his wife, Ceil.
I pointed out, however, that their most important guest was Ryan Corbin himself, and I asked Pat and Shirley Boone, who was wearing a large badge with Ryan's picture on it, what it meant to them that their grandson had come to the event.
"Gratitude to God," said Shirley.
Then Pat went on to say, "It means everything to us and it gives us the hope and the courage to do something like this for other people because the Bible says 'comfort one another with the comfort with which you have been comforted in your affliction.' We have been afflicted through Ryan's injury, but God has comforted us. He is bringing Ryan back. We know he can now do it for others and that's the purpose."
Shirley recounted the time when she first learned of Ryan's shocking injuries. "They told me that that he would not live through the night, but I heard this, I had a strong impression that God was saying, 'He will live and not die.' We found out later that this was from Psalm 118, which says that 'he will live and not die and declare the glory of God' and that's what he's doing right now.
"The thing is that I had no fear; no anxiety. I had this peace come over me and I just knew that word from the Lord was truth."