http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/highland/joseph-smith-run-connects-years-of-miracles/article_72e79d24-743e-568f-90ee-a7b6db5a2814.html
GENELLE PUGMIRE – DAILY HERALD
HIGHLAND — Every other day, 10 year-old Nathaniel White takes time away from his computer games, movies and other electronic devices, to take on his new role as coach for his mother — Ruth White plans to run while pushing her son in his wheelchair. White considers this one of the most important runs of her life — a run that connects 200 years of miracles.
On Aug. 3 descendants of the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family will hold Joseph’s Miracle Run Bicentennial 5K at This is the Place Heritage Park. This year marks the 200th anniversary of young 7-year-old Joseph Smith Jr.’s successful experimental leg surgery performed by Dr. Nathan Smith, founder of Dartmouth Medical School. He also co-founded Yale Medical School and the New Haven Children’s Hospital, where Ruth White was sent during her complicated pregnancy with Nathaniel.
“I felt a personal connection to Dr. Nathan Smith,” Ruth White said. “He was in the right place at the right time for Joseph. We were in the right place with Nathaniel. For us there is a spiritual connection with Dr. Smith and our family.”
The White family, who are direct descendants from Hyrum Smith, Joseph Jr.’s brother, aren’t the only ones with that spiritual connect. In the last two centuries, thousands of young LDS children have heard the story of the young boy Joseph, who would become the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have been taught about the miracle of Dr. Smith, but many may not know much of Dr. Smith, or what makes Joseph Sr.’s descendants connect across time.
Joseph’s miracle
A typhoid epidemic had cut a swath of disease and death across New England in 1812-13. All seven of Joseph Smith, Sr.’s children fell ill with it. Joseph Jr. suffered the greatest. A large sore was detected between Joseph’s breast and shoulder. When the doctor lanced it, it was recorded that “a full quart of matter” was discharge from it. Immediately, Joseph felt pain drive down his side and rest in the bone marrow in his leg. The bacteria had invaded the leg and Joseph could barely handle the pain.
After three weeks of unbelievable pain, a swollen leg and fever, the attending doctor made an incision in the leg hoping to provide some relief. This did not happen. Instead of healing, it got worse. The fever and bacteria became osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone.
A group of surgeons were summoned from Dartmouth Medical College just a few miles from the Smith family home. Dr. Nathan Smith was one of the surgeons. After examining the leg, it was determined amputation would be the only recourse. Joseph Jr. and his mother refused the amputation. However, there was one possibility. Dr. Nathan Smith, a young doctor, had developed an experimental surgery where he would cut through new bone growth and extract the infected bone. It was decided to try the procedure. During the surgery, nine large pieces of bone were extracted.
According to Ruth White, as she tells the family story, “after his surgery, the more painful part was the recovery, when shards of bone would work itself out of the leg,” White said. White noted there were 14 other pieces of infected bone that were worked out of the leg by members of the family taking turns massaging young Joseph’s leg. He was on crutches and could barely walk for nearly three years.
The removal of diseased bone rather than amputation was unheard of. It wasn’t until after World War I, more than a century later, that Dr. Smith’s surgical method was adopted as a medical procedure. The Smith family descendants consider this the first miracle of the Restoration.
Nathaniel’s miracle
“It is somehow very appropriate that Nathaniel and I join forces for the 5K to raise money for a scholarship as a gift of thanks for Dartmouth Medical School on behalf of Dr. Nathan Smith,” Ruth White said. “Not only did Dr. Nathan Smith found Dartmouth Medical School, but he also co-founded Yale Medical School, where Nathaniel’s life was saved when he was born there.”
In some written thoughts on her blog, Ruth White adds, “Nathaniel has been through so much physical adversity since his birth. It is definitely more difficult to run behind a wheelchair and I wonder if I can really do this for the race. He so wants to run. As we push forward together, I reflect on the greater journey of the miracle of Nathaniel’s life, the tenuous circumstances around his birth, a tracheostomy, ventilators, numerous surgeries, and in many ways, I connect personally with Joseph Smith’s story.”
As Ruth and Nathaniel White plod along the pavement, she thinks back to a recent surgery on Nathaniel’s jaw, which left screws in the bone.
“As parents, it was our responsibility to turn the screws which separated the bone fragments, forcing new bone growth,” she said.
She remembers in her blog, “Nathaniel screams as I rotate the device, which turns the screw in his jaw. He clenches, writhes, then sobs. But this is just one turn on the left side of his jaw. I must repeat it for the other side.”
Ruth White had to do this every day, twice a day for a month. “My mind turns to young Joseph’s surgery and while his agony was assuredly more intense, there is a certain similarity in the scenario.”
She adds in her notes, “Joseph, who willingly submits to the physical ordeal of surgery without anesthesia, as long as his father held him — and my son willingly submitting to the agony inflicted at the hands of his parents — that shared experience is heartbreaking. Nathaniel’s screams are searing. I can’t stop my ears because I must turn the screw, but in my mind I run to the same field beyond the cabin where Mother Smith had run to stop her ears from the same searing screams. We meet here. She knows the pain of my child’s piercing scream.”
The Miracle Run
Cars pass, drivers wave, cyclists give thumbs up and pedestrians cheer as Ruth and Nathaniel White continue their training for the Aug. 3 event. They, like approximately 40,000 descendants of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, understand the passion behind the run to honor Dr. Nathan Smith. According to Ruth White, the Guinness Book of World Records will be there to record the world’s largest family reunion. While only a tenth of the descendants may be there, it doesn’t diminish the devotion they have for the good doctor.
“We are very excited about this run,” said Frances Orton, president of the family organization. “As part of this opening 5K run, the organization is seeking to raise enough funds to provide a gift of gratitude to assist an aspiring medical student at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in Joseph’s name. The annual scholarship will be a reminder of the charitable contributions of Dr. Nathan Smith.”
Members of the public are invited to join in the 5K, contribute to the scholarship fund, and enjoy the festivities at This is the Place Heritage Park. Admission is free. To register, volunteer or donate visit www.JosephsMiracleRun.com.