It's too soon to know if he got his miracle. But Joey Ruiz knows he experienced the trip of a lifetime.

       The 14 year old Valrico boy, who has an inoperable brain tumor, returned home this week from Lourdes, France. Make-a-Wish Foundation of Sarasota/Tampa Bay made the weeklong trip possible.

      He went with his adoptive mother, Sonia, a pediatrician, and his grandfather, 81 year old Jeronimo.

      "I feel like I've had a healing," he says, wearing the beret he bought in France. "But I've got to get an MRI first."

      When Make-a-Wish approached Joey, he knew right away what he wanted: a miracle. And he wanted to go to Lourdes to get it.

      That faith-inspired request got the attention of Tampa lawyer Steve Yerrid, who earned millions in the lawsuit against the tobacco industry. He financed the nearly $10,000 trip, which included a side excursion to Paris.      Many Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared 18 times in 1858 to a village girl called Bernadette Soubirous, who eventually became a saint.

      The quaint village in the foothills of the Pyrenees draws 5 million people annually. Like Joey, many are looking for a physical or spiritual healing. Many consider the grotto's water holy.

      Like many, Joey bathed in the waters and filled plastic bottles in the likeness of the Virgin Mary. He lit candles, joined a religious procession and kissed the wall where Mary reportedly appeared.

      He had heard that bathers come out dry. He admits he had doubts, but he says it happened to him.

      "It was amazing," he says. "I got in the water and it was very, very cold. But when I came out, I was dry."

      Joey says he experienced at least one healing. He says that a bout of bronchitis, contracted during his travels, disappeared.

      "Right before I went into the water, I was coughing like crazy," he says. "But after I got out, no more coughing."

      Sonia Ruiz says the trip helped the family, which has gone through considerable trauma since Joey's tumor was discovered in January.

      "There's a sense of peace about us that wasn't there before we left," she says.

      Joey's next wish is to move to Lourdes with his mom and grandfather.

      "I feel 10 million times closer to God when I'm there," he says. "I could feel Our Lady's presence from the time I got there."

05/10/80