Prayers For St. Rose Of Belmar Student Hurt On Lifeguard Job

BELMAR – Jessica Kilian Jarmer was brought to tears, but they were tears of joy. When she sees the outpouring of love for her son, it can only make her feel good.

It's been weeks since her son, Sam, a 16-year-old junior at St. Rose High School of Belmar, suffered a serious spinal injury while working on his lifeguarding job at Ocean Grove. But when you look at the kind of support he's gotten, how could he not get any better?

"The more people we can get praying and sending good vibes, the better," Jessica told Patch.

Two days after the accident, more than 450 members of St. Rose Parish in Belmar, and its two school communities, along with neighboring St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Bradley Beach, packed the church pews for a Mass of Healing, she said.

His fellow lifeguards did a cheer for him in a video, yelling the name that his been applied to social media groups set up to provide his family boost: Samvincible.

Celebrities have been there, too. Keith Olbermann of ESPN provided a video of support.

Sam Lofquist from the Sibir Novosibirsk Hockey team out of the Czech Republic reached out after hearing Sam’s story. He said: "The whole team is rooting for you and will be looking for updates on your page!"

Perhaps it's no wonder that Sam has shown improvement. Three weeks ago, Jessica watched as the doctors asked Sam "to shrug his shoulders."

"I didn’t see much movement. They would look at me and smile and say they felt a little something. I held on to that with such hope," he said.

Now she's watching him roll his shoulders to get comfortable.

"That is a miracle," she said. "Still no movement in his legs and limited hand mobility, but I know that’s going to come."

Jessica said a top neurosurgeon has obviously helped, too. But in this saga, she said, "God put everyone in their place,” she said.

"Thank you for the continued love and support. The prayers are working," Jessica said. "Please keep them coming."