The Wheelchair Was My Future, God Had Other Plans

“I wanted to walk away from my faith with God, from the church, from everything. Nothing made sense to me at that point.”

Doctors couldn’t tell Megan McCullum why her 7-year-old son Vaughn kept having headaches. Then one day when she dropped him off at school, he collapsed on his way in. After giving Vaughn a CAT scan and MRI, the doctors had news for Megan, her husband James, and their other children Elizabeth and Terrance. Though the family was diagnosed at that time with a medulloblastoma, Clinical director of Texas Children’s Hospitals long-term survivors program Dr ZoAnn Dreyer, explains the severity of his diagnosis.            

According to Dr. Dreyer, “medulloblastomas are quite aggressive brain tumors, it's hard to treat and cure, it's a reasonable possibility that he may not have survived.” Vaughn’s dad James says he was in complete shock, but knew he had to stay strong for his son, his family, and his wife. 

“I was believing in full restoration as God, this is what has to happen. I'm just believ
ing I'm gonna stand on your word, that he can be fully restored”, James says.

Then, a few days later the family got worse news ---  Even if surgery to remove the tumor was successful and Vaughn lived, he would likely be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and  his mental capacity would be that of a 3- or 4-year-old child. The McCullums immediately called church family and friends for prayer, and shortly after, their worship leader came and sang songs of worship over Vaughn.         

In surgery, Doctors successfully removed the tumor and for a few months Vaughn appeared to be recovering well with chemotherapy. Then, a few months later, Vaughn developed an infection that again put his life and future in limbo. Megan then had a breakthrough in her faith --- she says “I realized in that moment, I had no control. The only person that has control is God. And when I came to that realization, I prayed for the first time in months and I said, God, I give my son to you.”       

One day the McCullum family, their pastor, and their church family gathered to pray as one voice. The following day Vaughn’s fever broke unexpectedly, and he woke up 24 hours later. It was a long, three-year road of therapy and treatments for Vaughn, but with the help of a dedicated staff and much prayer, Vaughn went on to make a full recovery with his life and bright future ahead! In Vaughn’s words: “I had God by my side and a lot of people praying for me. He kept me alive for a reason.  I would feel like it's crazy that it happened to me, but like something our church likes to say is that’s not crazy, That's God.”