The Catskill Chronicle

A Story About Love, Faith and a Miraculous Recovery

Story by Carol Montana, photos provided

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY – In the wee hours of August 9, 2009, Neversink resident Kathleen (Kathy) Aitken received a phone call that no mother should ever have to deal with. It was her daughter Melanie, calling to say that Kathy’s son, Joe (a.k.a. Little Joe) had been hit in the head with a baseball bat – three times. Joe had been at a party in Claryville when he was attacked.

This is a story of love and faith. It’s a story of everything going right. A story about the miraculous recovery of a remarkable young man who refused to give up.

Kathy says that the miracles started when a young man who was a witness to the attack called for help from a cell phone in Claryville. There is no cell service in Claryville. But somehow there was on August 8.

“Joe got hit on the top of the head, on the left side, five times all together,” says his mother. “Three times in the head, once in the abdomen, and they thought his right femur was broken. His skull was fractured and he was bleeding internally. But he wasn’t bleeding on the outside. He could speak, but it was garbled, and Mobilemedic, which was one of the responders knew immediately that he was in trouble.”

To read the full story go to They Gave Me Joe Back in the Sullivan Faces Section of The Catskill Chronicle.