The Miracle Of Matthew Jones

On September 28, 2001, The Leader Herald printed a story about a four-year-old boy named Matthew Jones. Matthew had developed a severe seizure disorder in November of 2000 and he was just starting the Ketogenic Diet when the story about him was printed.

The story told of how the Ketogenic Diet was helping to reduce Matthew’s seizures. At the time Matthew’s parents thought the diet was the answer to Matthew’s physical problems. However, four months later, in late January of 2002, Matthew’s parents, Greg and Connie Jones, chose to take their son off the Ketogenic diet and attempt a new drug therapy. Now, almost 2 years later, we learn of why young Matthew’s diet was discontinued and how he is doing with his seizure disorder today.

The Ketogenic diet is used to help children with uncontrolled Tonic-clonic seizures, (formerly known as grand-mal seizures), and Drop seizures. The diet is usually implemented when all forms of drug therapy have been exhausted. According to Dr. John Freeman, the Director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Clinic at Johns Hopkins University, the Ketogenic Diet effectively reduces the number of seizures in approximately 70% of the children who are on the diet. Matthew was in that 70% range after he started the diet and his seizures were reduced from averaging 100 seizures a day to averaging 12 seizures daily. However, he was not seizure free and that was what Greg and Connie Jones were hoping for and praying for.

The Ketogenic diet also has some major drawbacks and those began to have a detrimental effect on Matthew. The diet consists of meals that are high in fat but very low in sugar and carbohydrates, which results in a metabolic condition called ketosis. In order for the diet to be effective it must be adhered to at all times and every bit of food must be weighed to the gram. Typical foods like birthday cake and an ice cream treat now and then were absolutely out of the question for the four year old. Instead, a daily “snack” of 3 small black olives was all that Matthew was allowed. Matthew was never able to eat any of the foods the rest of his family and friends could eat. The severe restrictions of the diet were difficult for Matthew to understand and cope with. At four-years of age, Matthew only weighed 26 pounds and “he looked as if he was literally starving”, said Connie Jones. “Matthew was good about staying on the diet but it did start to take a toll”, said Greg Jones. Matthew’s mother added, “the diet was so restrictive that it was causing emotional turmoil for Matthew, he started carrying around a can of corn so he could look at it”. Matthew himself states that, “I felt very uncomfortable around food I couldn’t eat. I felt sad because I couldn’t eat things that other kids could eat”. The final straw for Connie and Greg Jones was when their son wanted to go to the bakery at Price Chopper and just look at the food. Greg Jones said, “this is not going to be Matthew’s life”, and, that night, took his son to McDonald’s for a fish sandwich. “He ate his fish sandwich like it was gold”, said Jones. It was at that time the Jones’ chose to discontinue the Ketogenic diet with Matthew altogether.
Shortly after taking Matthew off of the diet, his seizures began to increase once again.

Matthew’s parents then decided to try University Hospital in Syracuse. While at University hospital in February 2002, Matthew was put on one seizure medication. His seizure rate declined and by April, 2002 Matthew was seizure free. With the approval of the doctors at University Hospital, Greg and Connie Jones discontinued Matthew’s drug regimen in July of 2002, and Matthew has been seizure free ever since.

The Jones family, the church community of Believer’s Fellowship Center, and Matthew’s pediatrician, Dr. Proshanta K. Saha, all believe strongly that the cessation of Matthew’s seizures can be attributed to a miracle only God could supply. That miracle was what Mr. and Mrs. Jones were believing for all along. “We were standing on his healing and it didn’t matter what it looked like, we were believing for a miracle”, said Jones. “So many people were speaking negatively, saying that Matthew would have epilepsy for the rest of his life, we just walked away and refused to listen”, added Connie.

The Jones’ belong to Believer’s Fellowship Center in Johnstown and the doctrine which the church follows is known as The Word of Faith doctrine. This doctrine is based on the belief that God does continue to heal people and perform miracles.
Pastor Phil Carey of Believer’s Fellowship Center feels that the Jones family and Matthew’s healing are “the byproduct of what believing in the Word of God does”.
Carey admits that his faith was not where the Jones’ faith was. “Here was this little boy who was absolutely helpless and things just did not look good”, said Carey. Carey says the faith the Jones’ were demonstrating helped him to have faith as well. It was not an easy time though and Carey stated, “This thing started and then ended, as if Matthew woke up from a dream – in between, it was hell”. Members of Believer’s Fellowship Center, as well as people from many other churches, prayed and some fasted for Matthew and his family on and off for a year and a half. The love and support of the church family was evident all along during the time that Matthew was sick. Pastor Carey says, although the church believes in divine healing, he always refers the congregation to a physician. “I believe doctors work hand in hand with God and I would never suggest anyone not seek medical attention and follow a doctor’s recommendations”, said Carey. Dr. Saha, Matthew’s pediatrician, believes that this healing is a miracle as well. Saha states that the prognosis for a child with epilepsy as young as Matthew was is very bad. “It is usually a lifelong problem”, said Dr. Saha. He adds, “There is no medically known answer for the sudden end of seizures that Matthew experienced – in 25 years of practice I have never seen seizures that bad, just stop like that without continued medication”.

Greg and Connie Jones say that, “God had His hand on Matthew so many times”, and they never wavered in their belief of total healing for their son. The Jones family is pleased and excited to know that others see God’s hand in Matthew’s story as well. When Dr. Saha stated that, “Matthew is the only example I’ve directly seen of a miracle”, both Greg and Matthew Jones had obvious trouble containing their excitement over the doctor’s observation.

Matthew Jones is now 6 years old. He has been seizure free for a year and a half. He has been drug free for a year and three months. Matthew and his family firmly believe that the prayer and fasting on the part of many people is what brought on the miracle of his healing. Matthew loves to tell people that he has received a miracle from God. In fact, he wants to let as many people know as possible. The heart of this little boy has a desire to reach out to others who are sick and/or handicapped. When asked why he wanted to give an update as to what has happened with him, the precocious six year old stated, “I feel good and I want to tell this story and let the people in the community know what has happened and maybe help others who are sick”.

Thus, the miracle of Matthew Jones.