Liverpool Man’s Century-Old Recovery from War Wounds Officially Declared a Miracle

In the summer of 1923, when John Traynor’s train arrived at Liverpool Lime Street Station, his wife navigated through the throngs of people, discovering that multiple other women were also present, each asserting to be his spouse. The commotion surrounding his return was comparable to that which would later greet his fellow Liverpudlians, The Beatles, who had not yet been born. However, Traynor was not a celebrated entertainer or a film star; he was a debilitated former sailor, suffering from paralysis, epilepsy, and double incontinence. This was his condition prior to his departure from his home city just days earlier. Born in 1883, John “Jack” Traynor served in the Royal Navy Reserve and was called to active duty at the beginning of World War One. During the Battle of Antwerp, he sustained a head injury from shrapnel while transporting a wounded officer through a burning cornfield. This injury resulted in epilepsy, yet he subsequently returned to active service. In 1915, he participated in the ill-fated Gallipoli invasion, an operation where 130,000 British, Australian, New Zealander, and French soldiers perished attempting to capture the Dardanelles from the Ottoman Empire. Traynor evaded the assault for a week, but on 8 May, he was struck by a barrage of machine gun fire. He suffered wounds to his head and chest, and the nerves in his right arm were severed, causing paralysis. He came back to his residence in Liverpool’s Dingle area severely debilitated, becoming so weak that his wife needed to carry him upstairs to bed. This condition persisted for several years until 1923, when he embarked on a journey to the south of France, from which he would return transformed. Many would assert that this transformation was miraculous. Alex Taylor, a filmmaker and great-great grandson who has investigated his ancestor, stated, “I grew up with this story in my family about my great grandfather how he was significantly injured in WW1 but was cured after a Catholic pilgrimage so I wanted to get beyond family hearsay and family stories.” An unpublished memoir written by Traynor’s son, John, recounted that to supplement his disability pension, the former sailor would sit on his front porch, carving ballast wood acquired from ships departing Liverpool, and then sell it as firewood. Taylor commented, “He was desperately ill, nothing had worked.” He added, “He heard about the first archdiocese pilgrimage to Lourdes and demanded that he went – against the better judgment of his family and parish priest.” The Lourdes shrine has attracted pilgrims since 1858, when Bernadette Soubrious, then a destitute teenager, reported experiencing visions of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. A spring of water emerging from the River Gave’s mud was believed to possess healing attributes, and Bernadette, subsequently canonised by the church, stated that Mary had instructed people to immerse themselves in these waters. Traynor resolved to follow this practice. In a letter, Traynor recounted that during his bath at Lourdes, his legs became “violently agitated.” He believed he had recovered their function, but those accompanying him interpreted it as a seizure. Subsequently, during the pilgrimage, when the Archbishop of Rheims offered a blessing, his arm also became “violently agitated.” Traynor stated that he was “instantly cured and able to make the sign of the cross.” The following morning, he departed his hospital bed and proceeded to the grotto, the site where Bernadette reportedly experienced her visions. He spent 20 minutes kneeling in prayer to give thanks. On 27 July, three physicians examined him and determined that he had fully recovered his ability to walk, along with the complete use and function of his right arm and legs. The lesions on his body had entirely healed, and his seizures had stopped. Furthermore, an opening in his skull, resulting from surgery, had “diminished considerably.” At this point, reports of his extraordinary recovery had reached Liverpool and were rapidly circulating. Traynor returned to Liverpool, propelling the wheelchair he had been confined to for