On a Shabbat afternoon in early summer, the back door of our home slammed shut on our two-year-old daughter’s fingers. Sofi’s screams were terrifying and we called Hatzalah—the volunteer ambulance service—immediately.

In the panic, we realized that a portion of her left middle finger had been severed and we frantically searched for the missing tip. Thank G‑d, the dedicated members of Hatzalah arrived quickly, we located the fingertip, put it on ice, and were rushed to the hospital.

The plastic surgeon managed to reattach the fingertip and wrapped it in a large bandage. He warned me, however, that there was no guarantee it would heal properly and advised me to keep an eye on it. If it turned black and necrotic, it would not be a good sign.

We returned home drained and distraught by the day’s events. The doctor had not left us feeling very hopeful.

A few days later, we were at the doctor’s office for a second opinion. When he removed Sofi’s bandage, we discovered that her finger had turned black, and the journey began …

We searched for the best doctors from New York to Boston and started to make the rounds.

At one appointment, the doctor took one look and determined she needed a new finger—requiring several reconstructive surgeries and some grafting..

Dumbfounded, I asked him, “What will the finger look like after all those procedures?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m not G‑d.”

Needless to say, we promptly left.

Rabbi Shuki Berman, director of Refuah Resources—an organization dedicated to providing medical referrals and other vital support to those facing medical challenges—referred us to the world renowned Dr. Joseph Upton at Boston Children’s Hospital. We begged his staff for an appointment and arranged a long distance photo consultation for the next morning. At about 7:00 p.m., we took photos of her finger and emailed them to Dr. Upton’s office.

After we put Sofi to sleep, my husband and I decided to go to the Ohel to pray for Sofi and to ask the Rebbe for his blessing. After praying at the gravesite, we returned to the main room where a video of a farbrengen1 (chassidic gathering) was playing on the screen. Settling down, I watched the Rebbe having private conversations with visitors in between giving Torah talks.

Following along with the English subtitles, I suddenly heard the Rebbe say the following: “I heard you were at the doctor today. Such a pity, time was wasted.” This caught my attention, to say the least, and I wrote down the words to remember them.

When my husband joined me in the room, I shared these two lines with him and he also felt strangely intrigued by them.

The next morning, as we removed Sofi’s bandage to clean her finger, half of the corroded black part fell off. After the initial fright, we realized that under that area her finger looked pink and healthy. We took photos of this new development and called Dr. Upton’s office to advise them that the doctor should look at the new pictures before our phone appointment.

By the time the doctor called, an hour after the arranged time, I was shaking.

“I’m very confused,” Dr. Upton started, “Is the finger in the morning photos the same finger in the photos you sent last night? This is a huge turnaround! Last night’s photos told a bleak story, and this morning it seems that she is on the road to a complete recovery with no need for surgeries!”

A week and a half later, the rest of the corroded area fell off to reveal a completely healthy finger! We feel so privileged to have merited such an open miracle.