Whatever Became of Little Peter?

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN ECUADOR

THE August 22, 1970, Awake! carried an article entitled “Heart Surgery Without Blood Transfusion.” It recounted the story of a seven-year-old Canadian boy named Peter, who needed lifesaving surgery in 1963.

Peter’s primary physician said that there was a procedure available that could fix his defective heart valve. But when Peter’s parents took their son to a specialist and asked if the operation could be done without blood, the doctor replied: “No. It is absolutely impossible. I know what I am talking about.”

Not dismayed, Peter’s parents continued their search and eventually found a surgeon who was willing to perform the operation without the use of blood. How did it turn out? Although Peter survived the operation, his parents were told that only time would tell how successful the procedure had been. So, whatever became of little Peter?

When Peter was 13, he and his family moved to Ecuador, South America, to serve where the need for preachers of the good news of God’s Kingdom was greater. (Matthew 24:14) Peter was baptized at 15 and became a regular pioneer (full-time evangelizer) at age 18. At 26 he became a special pioneer, serving in a pueblo located 10,000 feet [3,000 m] above sea level in the Andes. In 1988, at 31 years of age, Peter together with his wife, Isabel, began serving as a traveling representative of the Watch Tower Society. He continues in this capacity today, visiting a different congregation each week in order to encourage them.

Indeed, Peter leads a very active life, without the need of any additional surgery. How grateful he and thousands of other Witnesses are for the cooperation of skillful surgeons who have respected the rights of their patients!

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Peter at age seven, shortly after surgery

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Peter and Isabel Johnston today