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September 11: SERVANT OF GOD WILLIAM ATKINSON: Called Anyway
Servant of God William Atkinson became a quadriplegic before he ever became a priest — then became the Church's first quadriplegic priest anyway. An eighteen-year-old novice when a tobogganing accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, William trusted that God's call on his life hadn't disappeared. In 1974, with special papal permission, he was ordained — going on to spend thirty years as a beloved chaplain and theology teacher. "What his body could no longer do on its own, God found a way to accomplish through him anyway." William's challenge doesn't have to end when the...
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But that was long enough.
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Doctors who reached him were stunned that he was still breathing.
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Is this episode right for you?
B2 · Upper-intermediate
Comfortable if you already follow TV news
- 89% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 124 words a minute: slow, clear speech.
- 21 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
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The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.
harder words (B2+)
Welcome back to the Catholic Sproust podcast where we know that every day is a feast day. It's September 11th, so join us for servant of God, William Atkinson and cold anyway. Leo whipped into the 18-year-old's face as his toboggan flew down the hill, blinding him for just a second.
But that was long enough. He struck a tree head first and in an instant his spinal cord snapped in his neck. Doctors who reached him were stunned that he was still breathing. William had been studying to become a priest.
But now he couldn't move his arms or his legs. around him assumed that his vocation was over. But William didn't know what to think. Instead, he prayed. Welcome back, Sproust. Today we are telling the story of servant of God William Atkinson,
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