Madi Thoele, 4th Period: Parents Say Pope's Miracle Kiss Shrunk Baby's Tumor

Summary Joey and Kristen Masciantonio claim that their one year old daughter, Gianna, who has an incurable brain tumor, has been making a miraculous recovery since November 20th. That day, Pope Francis traveled through Philadelphia and the family came to see him in front of Independence Hall. Joey and Kristen handed their baby to the Pope's bodyguard, who held her up to the Pope, where he proceeded to kiss her on the head. Since this day, Gianna's brain tumor has shrunk significantly and she's grown stronger. She has started "blowing kisses and pointing at things", which she could not do originally.

Analysis: This is great news for the Masciantonio family.Whether one believes in miracles or not, there are x-rays (linked below) to prove Gianna's tumor has in fact grown impressively smaller. This event can be related to U.S. history because it's similar to the underground railroad. Pope Francis can represent Harriet Tubman, who helped an uncountable amount of slaves escape from slavery via the underground railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Masciantonio can represent runaway slaves. The family's life was put on hold when their daughter was diagnosed with the tumor, and the Pope (allegedly) relieved most of their troubles. Similarly, the runaway slaves were, of course, faced with far worse problems, and Harriet Tubman helped them tremendously. The Masciantonio family will still have to go through hardships of medical bills, and the escaped slaves still had to deal with segregation, prejudice, and black codes.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/11/23/baby-brain-tumor-shrink-pope-kiss-dnt.kyw