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July 27. 2010 6:00AM

Merlin and Leann Sawyer and their family know the power of prayer.

The Brandon family relied heavily on hundreds of requests family and friends put in for divine intervention while son Sam battled a severe head injury he sustained from a snowboarding accident in January.

“I honestly believe all the prayers everybody sent is why I’m doing so well right now,” said Sam, who calculates his recovery at 90 to 95 percent.

Sawyer, a student at The University of South Dakota and kicker for the USD football team, was snowboarding with friends Jan. 7 at Terry Peak Ski Resort near Lead. He was found unresponsive about 10 feet into a grove of trees by friends. His mother, Leann, said her son was probably on the hill about 10 minutes before he was discovered and then airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he woke up eight days later. Miraculously so, he was released 20 days after he’d been airlifted in critical condition from Deadwood to the Rapid City hospital with a severe brain injury.

“Obviously I don’t remember the first days I was in the hospital,” Sawyer said, “but I did come to grasp the severity of it later.”

He also came to grasp the support he was receiving through prayers said on his behalf by family, friends, community members and even complete strangers.

"Yes, we think it was a miracle," Leann Sawyer said in early February. "For Sam to recover this quickly from injuries that severe, to have motion in his limbs, to have his personality back - that is nothing short of a miracle."

In the weeks following his accident, Sam made great strides in his recovery to be moved to Sanford in Sioux Falls on Jan. 22, where he went through rehab for his lower left leg. He showed dramatic improvement in both body and mind at a pace that surprised his doctors.

Again, he credits his quick recovery to the power of prayer.

"If this wouldn’t have happened, I’d probably have a different outlook on life, he said. “But you realize you have to take every day for what it's worth, and I am convinced all the prayers people said for me had something to do with this."

Sam said he has yet to be cleared by a doctor before he can suit up for kicking duties with the USD Coyotes. While he’s anxious to get back on the gridiron, he knows just how fortunate he is.

“I’m very lucky to even be thinking about playing football again this soon after my accident,” he said.

Sawyer’s story – and his journey to a deeper faith – will be featured at this year’s Brandon Valley Ministerial-hosted Prayer Breakfast. The event kicks off the three-day Hometown Days celebration at 7 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 6 at Celebration United Methodist Church.

Jerry Dahmen, a radio news broadcaster for KXRB Radio in Sioux Falls, is this year’s guest speaker, along with the Sawyer family. Dahmen, well known for his “I Love Life” segments on KXRB Radio, will interview the Sawyers before the Prayer Breakfast crowd that day.

“We were trying to find something for the Prayer Breakfast that highlights the power of prayer,” said Paul VanDeBerg, chairman of the event. “And in Sam’s situation, the power of prayer proved to be very powerful and helped to bring him where he is today.”

Last year’s breakfast sold out, and VanDeBerg said the group’s goal is to have 275 to 300 people attend the inspirational event.

“It’s a big goal, but that’s our goal,” he said.

Tickets are now on sale and are $10 each or $75 for a table of eight. For tickets, call VanDeBerg at 413-9892 or contact any Prayer Breakfast committee member.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the purchase of school supplies and backpacks for less fortunate children within the Brandon Valley School District. VanDeBerg said collection boxes have been set up at each of the Ministerial Association-member churches and local businesses.

Dan Pansch, principal of Brandon Valley Middle School, said the donated school supplies won’t go unnoticed or unused.

“For years, Brandon Valley has been thought of as a very affluent community, and it probably is,” he said. “But we are also faced with the same recession as everyone else, and when you see the list that schools require – and we evaluate that list very carefully – it can be (financially) overwhelming.”

Pansch said that while there is a need for supplies at the start of the school year, there are also needs throughout the school year.

“For years, we never received a request for any kind of program. Now we are getting people saying, ‘Can you help with busing, supplies or this and that?’ That tells me the need is growing,” Pansch said.

“And this is a very nice gesture.”
IF YOU GO
What: BV Ministerial Prayer Breakfast
When: 7 a.m . - Friday, Aug. 6
Where: Celebration United Methodist Church, 500 Pasque Flower Trail
Tickets: $10 each or $75 for table of eight. For tickets, call Paul VanDeBerg at 413-9892.
School supply & backpack drive: School supplies and backpacks are being collected for less fortunate children in the Brandon Valley School. Collection boxes are set up at Sunshine Foods, True Value, Home Federal Bank, First National Bank, Pizza Ranch, Midwest Railcar, Luverne Truck Equipment, Pace Manufacturing, Crimson Fire, and churches in Brandon and Valley Springs. School supply donations may also be brought to the prayer breakfast.