Church prays for miracle after wife of First Baptist Orlando pastor attacked, left in coma

Congregants at the 14,000-member First Baptist Church Orlando are praying for a miracle for Lucy Pat Curl, the 85-year-old wife of their longtime pastoral care minister Bill Curl, after she was brutally attacked inside her home while her husband was at work. She is now in critical condition at the Orlando Regional Medical Center with a significant brain injury that doctors say they cannot heal.
“Rachel and I stood there with her yesterday, and with Bill, and the sight of her body. What he [the attacker] did to her, and you just look up and go, ‘God, she's one of your finest,’” the church’s Senior Pastor David Uth told parishioners on Sunday.
“She's one of the best. Both Bill and Lucy Pat. That family has come together and they're navigating this, and she's being completely supported by life support right now with a ventilator. And [that’s] all that they do to keep her [alive]. So they've got to make the decision: What are we going to do?”
A press statement from the Orlando Police Department said officers responded to a report about a home invasion in Catalin at approximately 1:46 p.m. last Friday.
“The victim’s husband arrived home to find his wife severely battered inside their vehicle in the garage, pressing the horn for help. He immediately called 911,” the report said.
Pastor Curl told police that a black male, later identified as suspect Ronald D. Davis, 55, forcibly entered the couple’s home and attacked Lucy Pat Curl then fled the scene. Davis was later found sleeping inside a shed on a residential property a few miles from the pastor’s house.

Police said he was only released from prison in June 2024 after serving a 15-year concurrent sentence for burglary of a dwelling with assault and battery, as well as robbery. He has been charged with home invasion robbery with a weapon, aggravated battery on a person over 65, with great bodily harm, and aggravated battery with a weapon.
Uth called the attack on Lucy Pat Curl “heartbreaking” as she and her husband have been on staff with the church for 52 years and even served as missionaries with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board in Europe for 18 of those years.
For the last 16 years, Curl and his wife have been serving together at the church.
“He's the one that'll be there for you in a heartbeat. And his wife, Lucy Pat, is right there with him. She plays the piano incredibly well. She plays at so many funerals for us and weddings and whatever the need may be,” Uth said. “You'll see them sometimes around here riding a bicycle built for two, and it's a beautiful sight when you do.”
Uth said last Friday that Pastor Curl was counseling at their Center for Pregnancy when his wife was attacked at their home.
He said Lucy Pat told police that she heard a knock at her door, and when she went to the door, she saw the suspect, who said he was a community service officer. When she asked for his identification to verify his claim, Davis allegedly pretended he was looking for an ID in his wallet before forcing his way into the home and attacking her.
“He knocked her down, came into the house [and] hit her several times. She's 85 years old but in great health. She survived cancer three times,” Uth said.
During the attack, Uth said Lucy Pat hit the right side of her head on a coffee table, which caused significant damage.
“He [the suspect] starts ransacking the house, and she’s screaming out, and she got outside to the van and honked the horn, tried to get somebody's attention, a neighbor, but nobody came,” Uth explained.
When no one came to her aid, Lucy Pat Curl went back inside her home and sat down without help for about an hour before her husband arrived and called 911. She was rushed to the hospital for treatment, but doctors determined the damage was too great.
“They did some studies and saw there was a brain bleed, but they were hopeful that maybe it could be operated on to relieve the pressure and to deal with it. But then when they ran the second scan, it was beyond help, and the neurosurgeon said there's really nothing we can do. And so, everything that they've heard is that she's not going to make it,” Uth told his congregants.
Despite what the doctors have said, Uth revealed that Pastor Curl is believing God for a miracle for his wife.
“Now, when I say that, Bill told me he asked one of the doctors, ‘Do you know my God? He can do anything,’” the First Baptist Orlando pastor said.
“That's right. He's a miracle worker and we're going to pray for [a] miracle. Do you believe in miracles?” Uth asked his congregants.
“He [Bill] said the doctor just kind of nodded and changed the subject. But we're praying today that God will give her a miracle.”
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