José Herón Badillo was four years old and suffering from terminal leukemia when he was brought before John Paul II during the pope’s pastoral visit to Zacatecas in May 1990.
The treatments had weakened his body, and the medical prognosis offered no hope.
The pontiff looked at him with compassion, embraced him, and kissed his forehead. A short time later, tests showed that the leukemia had disappeared completely; the specialists treating him were stunned by a recovery they could not explain.
Years later, José Herón attributed his healing to God’s action through the gesture of the Holy Father.
His family also gives thanks to God and to the intercession of John Paul II.
For them, that embrace remains connected to the moment when the boy’s life took a different course.