It was 8 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 6 when St. Thomas the Apostle principal Karen Velasquez realized the Title 1 reading teacher had not shown up for work at the parish school in the Pico-Union district of Los Angeles, and also hadn't called in sick.

"I had a feeling something was wrong," said Velasquez, 34. She became more alarmed after calling 61-year-old Bernice Yarbrough at her home in Torrance and hearing the teacher's garbled replies to her questions. Yarbrough was able to disjointedly communicate that her stomach hurt and she was sleepy --- symptoms that raised a red flag to Velasquez and the school secretary, whose close relative had recently suffered a stroke.

The pair jumped in a car and headed to Torrance following directions relayed via cell phone from the school's computer room assistant checking the route on Mapquest. Yarbrough now was no longer answering her phone. "We were frantic and in a mode I cannot explain," said Velasquez.

Upon arrival at Yarbrough's townhouse, the two Catholic school staffers convinced the building owner's adult son to enter an open second story window. Though conscious enough to protest begin taken to the hospital, Yarbrough was in a confused state made worse by the fact she couldn't see anything. Velasquez had to convince her to go to the hospital with the paramedics who were reluctant to take an unwilling patient.

At the hospital, doctors determined that Yarbrough's blindness was caused by a bleeding aneurysm in the brain. "The doctor told me I had one of the worst strokes there is, but because they got me [to the hospital] within that crucial time period," permanent damage was minimal, said Yarbrough, who returned to work on Jan. 8.

Despite the wide range of possible side effects from a stroke --- such as impairments to memory, speech, hearing, vision, reading, writing, comprehension, perception and/or paralysis --- Yarbrough suffered only the loss of her perfect vision. She now wears glasses.

"A miracle happened. I was fine," said Yarbrough, who spent five days in intensive care as the doctors waited to see if the bleeding would stop on its own --- which it did. Yarbrough, a Baptist, credits her full recovery to prayer, especially the prayers of the St. Thomas schoolchildren who sent lots of get-well cards during Yarbrough's time recovering in the hospital and at home.

"I read every card. The children expressed how much they loved me. They prayed so much for me. It transcended race," said Yarbrough, an African-American who has taught for a decade at the predominantly Latino parish School.

"This parish community is extremely close," explained Velasquez, who joined the parish 15 years ago and served as the school's second grade teacher for six years before becoming principal of St. Thomas last year.

"The community has helped me become caring. To me that day [last October] I just followed instincts. We love Bernice. I wasn't surprised the children felt concerned and kept asking about her."

"Bernice," Velasquez declared, "is living proof that there is a tangible God. God answers prayers."