Stop Suffering ISSUE025 | Page 6

I OVERCAME SICKNESS... I went from being perfectly healthy to having my life dangerously at risk. After the pain and burning sensation, a visit to the hospital confirmed it— the tissue on my left side stomach was rotten. I required an eight and a half hour operation to remove it and only had 50 percent chance of survival. If I did survive, it was likely that I would not walk. I signed my life away, but left it in God’s hands. The operation went ahead but there was a complication along the way and so, the procedure was aborted. At 2:30am, after the operation, t h e hospital informed my wife that I was clinically dead. During the operation, I’d been bleeding heavily; they’d found a hole in my stomach, which meant that no medication could remain in there. I was in intensive care for a week, but things did not look good. Prayers were made on my behalf. I remember feeling a hand touch my heart and hearing a voice telling me to wake up. Suddenly, my eyes opened, but no one was there. A doctor noticed and called my name three times. I responded very slowly as I didn’t really know what was happening, I didn’t even know where I was. After recovering, doctors went ahead with the operation to remove the rotten tissue that was still there, which was successful this time around. The wound gradually healed until I was discharged and I returned to full-time work after a year. I am thankful to those who came to pray for me often, and the amazing support. My health has been completely reversed. Joseph O.