Medicinskt verifierade helanden

Jag skulle vilja bryta med en vanlig missuppfattning, nämligen att helanden som Gud utför inte kan verifieras vetenskapligt. Detta har gjorts åtskilliga gånger. När ett helande verifieras av den medicinska vetenskapen tar man i regel de läkarjournaler som alltid förs vid sjukdomsbelopp och därefter bedömer man om tillfrisknandet kan förklaras enligt vetenskapens mallar.

Helgonförklaringskommissionen är ett exempel på detta. Det är förvisso en religiös institution, men man ser noga till att katolska kyrkan inte är med och fingrar i läkarkollegiets arbete som undersöker oförklarliga helanden. Läkarkollegiet består av drygt 80 läkare som tillsammans betäcker samtliga medicinska områden och är enligt oberoende bedömare några av de främsta experterna inom läkarkåren. Två stycken måste oberoende av varandra komma fram till att ett fall följt fyra kriterier: 1. Patienten ska ha lidit av en verifierbar fysisk sjukdom som inge tillgängliga behandlingsmetoder har kunnat bota. 2. Tillfrisknandet ska vara plötsligt. 3. Tillfrisknandet ska vara fullständigt (t.ex. om det gäller cancer med metastaser räcker det inte om en tumör försvinner, det får inte finnas ett spår av cancerceller i kroppen). 4. Tillfrisknandet ska vara beständigt och det får inte ske något återfall.

Följande står på Vatikanens hemsida gällande Helgonförklaringskommissionens tillvägagångssätt:

Part III: Title II: Chapter IV:Medical Expert. Art. 60 – § 1. In the Inquiry on an allegedly miraculous healing, the Bishop must nominate a Medical Expert. § 2. In the Inquiry on an allegedly miraculous fact of another nature, the Bishop must nominate a Technical Expert. § 3. After he has sworn to fulfil faithfully his task and to maintain the secret of office, the Expert is to help the Promotor of Justice in preparing the Interrogatories for the witnesses. § 4. The Expert must participate in the Sessions that are held for hearing the witnesses, in order to ask, through the Episcopal Delegate, for clarifications in the area of his competency, according to necessity and circumstances.

Part V: Title VI: Participation of the Medical Expert Art. 92 – § 1. In the instruction of the Inquiry on an allegedly miraculous healing, the Medical Expert must swear an oath during the First Session of the Inquiry to fulfil faithfully his task and to maintain the secret of office (127). § 2. Furthermore, he must participate at all the individual Sessions in direct collaboration with the Episcopal Delegate and suggest to him, if necessary, specific questions to be asked of the witnesses that may be useful for examining the case more deeply (128). § 3. Should the Expert consider it expedient to ask specific questions of a witness who has already been examined, it is recommended that the witness be recalled to testify. § 4. The Expert may be absent only for grave reasons that are to be transcribed and inserted into the acts of the relative Session of the Inquiry. Art. 93 – § 1. With a view towards the examination of the alleged miracle by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, it is recommended that the Medical Expert prepare a report. § 2. In the report he is to express a judgment on the quality of the medical and technical witnesses. § 3. The report is to be sent together with the letter that the Bishop or his Delegate will send to the Prefect of the Congregation (129).

Det Helgonförklaringskommissionen och dess läkarkollegie pysslar med är inga hemligheter och står även på Wikipedia (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanonisering). I Mirakler av Niels Christian Hvidt (en bok jag rekommenderar för den som vill ha medicinskt bevisade helanden, http://www.miraclebook.org/) säger monsignore Michele di Ruberto som är ansvarig för undersökning av mirakler i kommissionen: ”Det enda kyrkan gör är att samla in och utvärdera material som redan existerar. Normalt baserar läkarkommissionen sina undersökningar på de journaler som ju alltid förs under alla behandlingsförlopp. Utvärderingen av t ex en på ett oförklarligt botad cancerpatient frundas på jounralens samtliga röntgenbilder, som då visar cancertumören före helbrägdagörelsen och den fullständiga frånvaron av den omedelbart efteråt.”

Alla kommissionens utredningar publiceras i en dossier vid namn Positio super miraculo och allt material finns tillgängligt på kommissionens kontor i Vatikanen. Det verkar dock inte att få tag på det via nätet. Hvidt hänvisar till andra arbeten som går igenom kommissionens utredningar (det är bra om man är språkkunnig dock): Woodward, Kenneth: Making Saints, New York 1996; Resch, Andreas: Miracoli dei beati band I och II samt Miracoli dei santi band I; Bon, Delooz, Pierre: Les miracles – un défi pour la science?, Bryssel 1997; samt Schamoni, Wilhelm: Wunder sind Tatsachen. Eine Dokumentation aus Heiligsprechungsakten, Würzburg, 1976.

Katolska kyrkan har erkänt ett tiotusental händelser som mirakler, varav de flesta är oförklarliga helanden. Eftersom Helgonförklaringskommissionen har så stränga krav, så mycket bevismaterial och har centraliserat så många av dessa oförklarliga helanden är arbetena ovan mina främsta referenser när det gäller medicinskt verifierade helanden, de bygger på oberoende läkares redogörelser av oförklarliga tillfrisknanden.

Det är alltså min främsta hänvisning. Nu går jag över till några ”case studies” gällande vetenskapligt verifierade helanden. Många av dem har godkänts av Helgonförklaringskommissionen eller av andra noggranna vetenskapliga utredningar, andra innehåller helt enkelt läkarutlåtanden som oberoende läkare gjort när de undersökt människor som tillfrisknat efter förbön.

Den 66:e person i Lourdes vars oförklarliga tillfrisknandet betecknas som mirakulöst av katolska kyrkan hette Jean-Pierre Bély, kom från Couronne i Frankrike och var 51 år gammal när helandet ägde rum. I Lourdes: Visionerna – källan – undren skriver Sven H. Gullman att han fick en kliniskt säker diagnos på universitetssjukhuset i Poitiers som sade att han hade den obotliga sjukdomen multipel skleros (MS). Han förklarades vara 100 % invalid. Efter att han hade besökt Lourdes kunde han dock gå normalt igen och göra allt som friska kan göra. Dr. Devoize, neurolog i Angouleme, hade undersökt Bély innan helandet och kunde konstatera att han hade varit sjuk i MS, men nu var han inte det. En annan neurolog, dr Gil vid universitetssjukhuset i Poitiers, undersökte honom också och konstaterade 1988 att vetenskapen inte kunde förklara detta. Bély undersöktes också av dem som hade ställt hans MS-diagnos. 28 september 1994 satte nya undersökningar igång, ledda av neurologen dr. Confarreux från Lyon. 14 november 1998 konstaterade han att ett oförklarligt tillfrisknande hade ägt rum. Den 9 februari 1999 erkändes händelsen av katolska kyrkan som ett Guds under.

Oasi del silenzio skriver om samma händelse (översatt från italienskan):

66 – Healing of Jean-Pierre Bely
Born August 24, 1936 October 9, 1987 and recovered in 52 years. Miracle approved February 9, 1999 by His Excellency Bishop Claude Dagens, Bishop of Angouleme.

Nurses at the Hospital of Angouleme began in 1972 to acknowledge and occasional neurological disorders without precise location, 2 or 3 times a year. After a change of activity, these problems became less frequent until 1982 when it appeared that in principle a diplopia appeared with small crises and repeated several times a day for short periods. Between 1984 and 1987 manifested the episodes of motor weakness, localized all’emicorpo right, which worsened rapidly despite having finally abandoned the job. The walking and sitting became difficult and then impossible.

During this time he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis rapidly evolving.

In October 1987, when he was bedridden, suffering from numbness and urinary incontinence, the patient was transported to Lourdes with Rosary Pilgrimage. After the anointing of the sick, the third day, he immediately felt a strong sense of inner peace. A few hours later, he saw the recovery of sensitivity and ability to move, so complete that allowed him to leave Lourdes walking and being able to travel sitting, but without being put in contact with the Medical Bureau in Lourdes.

Instead, after visiting Jean-Pierre Bely the first time in December 1986, confirming the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Dr. Devoize, a neurologist at Angouleme, had the opportunity to see him a few days after your return home. The patient did not complain any more trouble and His neurologic examination result was normal.

In February 1988, Professor Gil, a neurologist at Poitiers, After the visit, also confirms the previous diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, and concluded with an IRM without anomalies, for ”a possible explanation without neurological recovery.”

The Lourdes Medical Bureau was informed of this unexpected development only in October 1988, and after numerous checks in the following years, he recognized that healing as ”certain, extraordinary and definitive” in 1992.

En annan katolsk hemsida skriver (notera att en agnostiker, dr. Patrick Fontanaud, verifierade helandet):

Le Monde dedicated an entire page to the scientifically inexplicable cure of an illness that began affecting Jean-Pierre Bély in 1972. He was classified by the French health system as a total invalid by the time he went on pilgrimage to Lourdes in October 1987, at age 51.

Those who accompanied Bély did not think he would survive the trip. At the end of the pilgrimage he received the anointing of the sick in the shrine’s esplanade. When he returned home, he was already able to walk. Today, virtually all traces of the illness have disappeared.

Patrick Fontanaud, an agnostic physician who looked after Bély, said there is no scientific explanation for what occurred. It was Lourdes’ 66th officially recognized miracle since the 1858 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin.

Och den katolska tidningen Zenit skriver:

Jean-Pierre Bely came to declare his cure to the Medical Bureau of Lourdes the following year, on Thursday, October 6. Since then, he has been seen annually by the doctors and, by his neurologist and the head of the Department of Neurology of the University Hospital of Poitiers.

On June 17, 1992 a first consultation was carried out at the request of the International Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL), the second level of examination at the shrine. The conclusion: ”such a cure is not just unusual but inexplicable.” In November, 1992, the Committee called for a further two-year delay to respect the criteria of a definitive cure.

After additional examinations and consultations, on November 14, 1998, following a majority vote of the members of CMIL, the following statement was issued. ”It is possible to conclude, with a good margin of probability, that Mr. Bely suffered an organic infection of the multiple sclerosis type in a severe and advanced stage of which the sudden cure during a pilgrimage to Lourdes corresponds with an unusual and inexplicable fact to all the knowledge of science. It is impossible for medical science to say anything more today. It is for the religious authorities, however, to make a pronouncement on the other dimensions of this cure.” The document was written in Lourdes on February 9, 1999 by Dr. Patrick Thellier, Resident Doctor and Doctor-in-Charge of the Medical Bureau.

Här är en intervju med en av läkarna i Lourdes: http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=1252

Men det här var bara ett av de tusentals helanden inom katolska kyrkan som verifierats av läkare. Låt oss titta på några andra fall.

Mensajero de San Antonio skriver:

In the city of Salerno live Consiglia De Martino, 52, married, housewife, mother of three children. In late October 1996 she was affected by a rare, very serious ailment. Suddenly she felt short of breath, as if choking, neck swelled and the height of the left collarbone, it formed an attractive package, the size of an orange. She was admitted urgently to a hospital and underwent various tests, including a CAT scan. Doctors warned traumatic rupture of the thoracic duct and the consequent expansion of lymphatic fluid in the mediastinum and retroperitoneal space. They had to operate to close the perforation, Consiglia would otherwise die. The operation was scheduled for Nov. 2. At night, Consiglia asked for the intercession of Padre Pio, which was very devout. Suddenly she felt a very strong perfume and thought : Padre Pio is near me and protect me during the operation . She fell asleep. She dreamed that Padre Pio told her: ‘Do not worry, I would operate’ and he put his stigmatized hand over her heart . When Consiglia awoke, she was completely cured. Physicians, rather than operate, found that the rupture of the thoracic duct had disappeared, as if it had never existed.

Catholic Culture skriver om samma händelse:

Towards the end of October 1995, Signora Consiglia De Martino, a married woman with three children who lived in Salerno, Italy, had been nursing her uncle who then passed away. On October 31, Consiglia was at the home of her widowed aunt, when she began to feel a heavy pain in her chest and stomach, as if her insides were being torn away. She felt a malaise throughout her body, chills and a sense of suffocation. She went to bed without supper and remained sleepless the entire night.The next day, in spite of persisting pain, Consiglia did her usual housework and even accompanied her daughter Daniela to school. Afterwards she was on her way to Mass when she felt increasingly ill and stopped instead at her sister’s home. There she experienced a painful swelling in her neck, and looking in the mirror perceived a lump as large as a grapefruit. Consiglia and her sister were quite frightened and called their husbands to accompany them to the Riuniti Hospital in Salerno. Consiglia was examined by the doctor on duty and immediately sent to the emergency room. A first CAT-scan revealed a liquid deposit on the left side of the neck. After a second CAT-scan the doctors diagnosed a diffuse lymphatic spilling of approximately two litres caused by a rupture of the lymphatic canals. A surgical intervention was advised, but meanwhile no form of therapy was applied.Signora Consiglia De Matino and her family were very devoted to the figure of Padre Pio. Consiglia was a member of one of Padre Pio’s prayer groups and was accustomed to appealing to Padre Pio in times of trouble; she also made monthly pilgrimages to San Giovanni Rotondo to pray at his tomb.And so on November 1, 1995, as soon as she was brought to the hospital, Signora Consiglia turned to Padre Pio. She took her mobile phone and called Fra (Brother) Modestino Fucci at San Giovanni Rotondo to solicit prayers. Almost at the same time Consiglia’s husband and daughter also called Fra Modestino to ask him to say some prayers. Later Fra Modestino confirmed that he had received those calls and that he had indeed prayed at Padre Pio’s tomb for Signora Consiglia’s recovery. Fra Modestino was sure his requests would be heard because Padre Pio had promised him as much during their time together at the monastery.On the afternoon of November 2 there was a reduction in the fluid deposit in Consiglia’s neck and the patient also experienced a marked diminution of pain. The health workers who examined her on November 3 noticed the almost complete disappearance of the swelling in her neck. An abdominal X-ray and examination showed no more evidence of unusual liquid in the system. Another CAT-scan on November 6 confirmed the complete disappearance of the liquid deposits.The patient was dismissed with a clean bill of health soon after. Successive examinations revealed no after-effects of the illness.The diocesan investigation of the miraculous healing took place at the Salerno Curia from July 24, 1996 to June 27, 1997, and with its decree of September 26, 1997, accepted the validity of the cure. The acts were then published and the documentation was studied by two experts ex officio and then by a medical consultant. On April 30, 1998, these experts unanimously announced the ”extraordinary and scientifically inexplicable” nature of Signora Consiglia’s cure.On June 22, 1998, the Special Congress of Theologians was convened to discuss the theological aspects of the healing, and on October 20, the Ordinary Session of Cardinals and Bishops also met. On December 21, in the presence of Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints published the decree on Padre Pio’s miracle.

Den 25 januari 1983 kom Alice Bénilian till Soufanieh där olja på ett oförklarligt sätt (som dokumenterats av vetenskapsmän) bildas på en ikon samt på Myrna Nazzours händer. Bénilian hade varit lam i höger arm i 13 år och nu hade armen börjat förtvina. Hon bad framför ikonen, och hon berättade senare att hon kände ett tryck på huvudet tre gånger, och den tredje gången var det som en kula av eld gick från huvudet och nedåt. Armen tillfrisknade omedelbart. Läkaren Pierre Salam undersökte händelsen i en rapport och avslutade denna med orden: ”Jag har personligen ingen täckande vetenskaplig förklaring till detta tillfrisknande.” Detta läkarutlåtande genomfördes den 30 april 1983 och återfinns i Ravaz, Christian: Soufanieh – les apparitions de Damas, Paris 1988 och i en PDF på Internet.

The World Christian Doctor’s Network har på sin hemsida publicerat över hundra fall av helanden som har undersökts vetenskapligt, dels under rubriken Case studies samt Testimonies. Fallen är främst från Sydkorea. 

Jebiwot och mötesledaren dr. Owour

”Vi vet att Gud inte lyssnar till syndare, men om någon är gudfruktig och gör hans vilja, då lyssnar han till honom. Aldrig någonsin har man hört att någon har öppnat ögonen på en som var född blind. Om den mannen inte vore från Gud, kunde han ingenting göra.” (Joh 9:31-33)

Teresa Jebiwot föddes helt blind och saknade hornhinna, hon kunde inte ens se dagsljus utan hade levt hela sitt liv i konstant mörker. Hon gick på Chepsigot Special School for the Blind i Kenya. 2010 besökte hon ett väckelsemöte som hölls i Kisumu, sydvästra Kenya (nära Viktoriasjön). När mötesledaren utropade att Jesus helar blinda ögon kunde hon plötsligt se.

Teresa undersöktes av ögonspecialisten dr. Agnes Maiyo på Itendirstriktets sjukhus. Maiyo hade undersökt Jebiwot tidigare och bekräftat att hon hade varit helt blind. Nu kunde hon konstatera att Jebiwot hade en hornhinna, något hon inte kunde förklara. Hon genomförde flera tester som bekräftade att Jebiwots syn var helt återställd, och hon behövde inte längre gå på blindskola.

Dr. Agnes Maiyo

Jebiwots helande blev känt i hela Chepsigot och i många områden runt omkring, och flera lärare på blindskolan samt medlemmar i Jebiwots församling kunde bekräfta att hon hade varit helt och hållet blind. Arrangörerna för väckelsemötet dokumenterade det hela och publicerade det i tidningen Repentence and Holiness Magazine, decembernumret 2010.

I den här videon intygar läkare från många olika institutioner – bland annat Walter Reed Army Medical Centre i Washington D.C., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention i Atlanta, Kenya Medical Research Institute samt Kenya National AIDS & STI Control Programme – att helanden från HIV/AIDS ägt rum:

I juninumret 1951 av The Voice of Healing finns på sidan 8 ett läkarutlåtande publicerat (det är lite smått dock) där det bekräftas att Oscar Marrero Perez från Ponce, Puerto Rico, blivit oförklarligt helad från tuberkulos. I samma nummer på sidan 15 berättar David V. taylor från Fullerton i Kalifornien om hur Dr. C. F. Lehenkering från Darlinton i West Virginia konstaterade att han oförklarligt fått sin syn tillbaka på det högra ögat. Ett utlåtande finns inte publicerat av läkaren själv, däremot står det att händelsen blivit rapporterad i två sekulära tidningar: Huntington Advertizer och Charleston Gazette (1950-03-30).

I julinumret 1951 av samma tidning finns det på sidan 10 något väldigt intressant. Där finns tre läkarutlåtanden publicerade. José A. Gallardo Diaz verifierar att Juan Miranda Conceptcion har återfått full syn (20/20) på det vänstar ögat där han har varit tidigare blind i elva år pga en infektion. Dr Alfredo L. Bou verifierar att Dionisto Bonilla haft utslag orsakat av cancer som blivit fullständigt botade. Dr. Pedro Conde verifierar att Gregoria Silva blivit ”fullständigt helad” som han uttrycker det från bröstcancer.

Ett väldigt intressant rapport finns på Bethel Churchs hemsida. Där berättar en kristen läkare, dr. Alan Chin, om hur hans syster uppväcktes från att vara hjärndöd – något som är medicinskt omöjligt. Jag återger det nedan i sin helhet även om det är långt och innehåller många invecklade, medicinska termer:

On the morning of Monday, 20 of April 2009, I received a call from my brother-in-law John that my sister Suzanne had suffered a cardiac arrest and was warded in ICU in hospital in Hong Kong. This came at the worst time possible as I was going through a time of tribulation and crisis in my own life. My wife Josie had just been appointed as the President of AWARE and when she most needed my support, I had to be away!

My mother and I flew up that very afternoon to Hong Kong. We arrived that night and headed straight to Canossa Hospital where Suzanne was warded. We met John and my brother David who had flown in earlier. John recounted what had happened that morning.

As per her usual morning routine, after sending her kids to school, she went for her morning jog with her dog. However, after around ten minutes, she decided to turn back as she was feeling tired. She had a bath and went to bed. As John noticed that she looked unwell and was slow in her speech, he called for the ambulance. Within 10-15 minutes she was on her way to hospital, still conscious.

Unfortunately on arrival at 8:38 a.m., she lapsed into unconsciousness with an unrecordable blood pressure. The doctors commenced resuscitation, which lasted about two hours. ECG on admission showed narrow complex bradycardia. Intravenous adrenaline was administered and she developed a ventricular tachycardia. She was defibrillated which resulted in sinus rhythm. She was intubated and started on IV dopamine and adrenaline.

She was transferred to ICU after she had been stabilized.

MRI of Brain showed:

– Tiny T2W dark signal in Right cerebellar hemisphere, likely a nonspecific focus due to a tiny calcification or tiny focus of old No other intracranial abnormality.

– Trace fluid signal in posterior wall of NP.

ECG immediate post resuscitation on 20.4.2009 – SR, ST depression in praecordial leads

CXR report:

– Interstitial lung markings, right lung pleural fluid, slightly more confluent shadowing RUZ, but may have some pneumonic changes.

In ICU, she developed diabetes insipidus – marked urine output (serum osmolarity 325 urine osmolarity 129) responded to DDAVP.

When I saw Suzanne in ICU, she did not look good. She was on a ventilator; her pupils were 4mm fixed and dilated. Her limbs were flaccid. The respiratory physician advised that the prognosis was very poor with evidence of brain stem death and pituitary gland failure. The room temperature in ICU was kept low to slow down the metabolic processes.

I spent the night in hospital praying and interceding. I proclaimed Psalm118:17 over Suzanne that she shall not die but live to declare the works of the Lord.

An echocardiogram done the next morning on Tue, 21 April 2009, by the cardiologist, Dr. David Ho showed:

– Moderate Aortic Regurgitation with global left ventricular dysfunction and moderate to severe global hypokinesia.

– Cardiac valves showed no abnormal thickening.

– Tri-leaflet aortic valve

– LVES 4.89cm LVED 5.35cm

– EF 19% by M mode

– LA 2.72cm

Dr Ho suggested a diagnosis of acute aortic valve prolapse leading to cardiac arrest.

That afternoon, her condition remained unchanged. The temperature in the ICU was now turned up in a not-too-subtle hint that the doctors had given up.

The respiratory physician again advised that there was no improvement and confirmed that Suzanne had brain stem death (BSD). It is a term equated with death to describe a person on life-support system when faced with a decision whether or not to switch off the ventilator or to harvest organs for organ transplant. She advised John to consider switching off the ventilator as Suzanne was now dead and there was no hope of recovery. She added in medical history there were no cases of anybody recovering from BSD.

I contacted my friends in Singapore to pray for Suzanne.

We requested for a second opinion from a neurologist who examined her that afternoon. Her pupils were fixed and dilated. Vestibulo-ocular reflex was negative. She had a negative gag and cough reflex. There was no pain reflex in response to deep pressure over sternum, fingers, and eyebrow. She was flaccid, a-reflexic and there was no plantar response. His diagnosis was also that of brain stem death.

That evening, Suzanne looked dead. She was cold and clammy; facial discoloration had set in, especially under her eyes. There was also a smell of death over her. That evening, her children, Kim and Ian saw her for the first time after her collapse. The whole family was distraught. Everyone was grieving for Suzanne.

Later that night, I called Josie to update her on Suzanne’s condition. She spoke to John and prayed with him. She received the word ”resurrection” and told John that God is our Healer and that He would resurrect all her brain cells.

Even as I prayed that night, I asked Father God where Suzanne was. He answered that she was with Him. I then asked whether she would be coming back. He said yes! I asked when, but there was no answer. I then asked for a sign by Wednesday as I had scheduled to return to Singapore that afternoon. Comforted, I went to sleep early that night.

Things started to turn around on Wednesday. Early that morning, the nurses noticed slight movement as they were sucking phlegm from her intubation tube. John excitedly called from hospital that early morning saying Suzanne had opened her eyes for the briefest moment several times!

We hurried down to the hospital. As we called her name there was response with twitching of her lips and movement of her eyebrows. She opened her eyes several times! We were all greatly encouraged.

Suzanne was then reassessed by the neurologist. When he called her name, there was no response. When he asked her to move her arm, again there was no response. However, when I called out her name, she opened her eyes. She also moved her fingers when I asked her to move her hand. Her pupils were still fixed and dilated with a negative doll’s eye reflex. There was grimacing of her face in response to deep pressure for pain over her fingers and sternum.

Strangely the neurologist still advised John that these signs were just autonomic responses. She also warned John not to raise false hopes of recovery as Suzanne had BSD!

At around noon, the respiratory physician noted there were further signs of recovery. Suzanne had started triggering the ventilator to breathe, about 5-10% of the breaths. By the time I left the hospital for the airport at about 1:30 p.m., she was initiating 100% of her breathing.

By that evening, there was movement of all her four limbs, with increasing episodes of eye movements. Her pupils were no longer fixed and dilated and she had regained her pupillary reflexes.

However she developed a fever. Her total white blood count was 34,500. Chest X-Ray showed lobar pneumonia, with bilateral infiltrates indicative of adult respiratory distress syndrome. Remarkably all these settled down within 24 hours.

On Thursday 23 April, while Suzanne was being reassessed by her neurologist, John asked Suzanne to nod her head if she understood him. She did so. He then asked her to nod her head twice as the doctor was skeptical. Again she did so.

By Friday 24 April, Suzanne was fully conscious and able to recognize all who visited her.

Echo of heart: Ejection Fraction had improved from 19% to 43%. (Her EF was back to normal by Monday 27 April).

Suzanne was ex-tubated on Saturday, 25 April. She was able to talk shortly after that. Neurological examination revealed full and total recovery with no neurological deficits.

I spoke to her that afternoon over the phone just before I testified in church of God’s power and amazing grace in bringing her back from the dead.

On Sunday 26 April morning, Suzanne was up and about and was able to shower herself. She even asked John to bring her facial wash and moisturizer.

She was discharged the following Tuesday.

As I shared her amazing testimony in Church Of Our Savior again, on Sunday 26 April morning, a reporter from The Newpaper was also present. Intending to hear Pastor Derek”s sermon, she had no choice but to sit through my sharing of this miracle. It was then reported on Monday 27 April The Newpaper’s front page!

Up till today doctors are not able to ascertain what happened to Suzanne as all the tests have been negative. She is fully recovered and coming back to Singapore permanently this end June 2009 after spending 15 years in Hong Kong.

Suzanne remembers that while she was in coma, she dreamt that she was pinned down on the floor of an apartment she had earlier visited in Pandan Valley Singapore. She tried to get up but someone (she described it as an evil presence) prevented her from doing so.

She has been touched and changed by her experience and walking closer to God.

I hope that Suzanne’s miraculous resurrection will be a source of comfort, strength and encouragement of the reality of God’s amazing grace, mercy and goodness.

Revelation 19:10b states: For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Let him or her who needs a miracle from God, claim one.

Dr Alan Chin

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Candy Gunther Brown håller en bra föreläsning om medicinskt verifierade helanden här:

Brown har åkt till Moxambique och undersökt när kristna från Iris Ministries ber för syn- och hörselskadade. Resultatet är publicerat i Southern Medical Journal och lyder:

Audition

There was a highly significant improvement in hearing across the 18 ears of 11 subjects (t(10) = 3.93, P < 0.003, two-tailed) (Fig. 1). Two subjects showed hearing thresholds reduced by over 50 dB HL. AN was very high during testing (50–100 dB SPL), but AN (85 dB SPL), calculated for each subject individually as the average of the minimum and maximum noise during measurement was unchanged between pre- and post-PIP tests (t(10) = -0.48, P = 0.64, two-tailed), indicating that AN was not likely to be a confound (Fig. 1, A). The average 3 kHz threshold after PIP was 49.4 dB HL, which was slightly high, perhaps due to high AN.

Vision

Significant visual improvements (both difference and ratio of before vs after) were seen across the tested population (Wilcoxon signed rank test z = 2.49, P < 0.02, two-tailed) (Fig. 2, A). Three of eleven subjects improved from 6/120 or worse to 6/24 or better, and one subject improved from unable to count fingers at 30 cm (6/2400) to 6/38 (Fig. 2, B). All but one vision subject was tested in broad daylight; the remaining subject was tested after dark, with electricity provided by generator-powered stage lights and a flashlight (See Subject E in Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww.com/SMJ/A1); the lighting level did not appear improved between the pre- and post-test (conducted less than one minute later), making it unlikely that variable lighting was a confound.

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Miraklet som gjorde att S:t Faustina helgonförklarades är särskilt intressant (finns att läsa här):

In 1995, Fr. Ron Pytel of Baltimore, Maryland, knew he had a problem. During a bout with bronchitis, he found himself out of breath after climbing a flight of stairs. Upon closer examination, his doctors discovered a massive calcium build-up in his aortic valve. As a result, the left ventricle of his heart had become badly damaged — a condition that rarely heals and if it does, it occurs over a span of many years.In June of 1995, Fr. Ron had surgery to replace the valve with an artificial one, but the damage to his heart was another problem. When he went for his first regular check-up two months later, the prognosis was not good.Dr. Nicholas Fortuin, a world-renowned cardiologist from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, said that Fr. Ron’s heart would never be normal and that the 48-year-old priest would likely never be able to return to his priestly duties.However, all of that changed on Oct. 5, 1995 — the Feast Day and 58th anniversary of Saint Faustina’s death. After a full day of prayer at his parish, Fr. Ron attended a healing service where he prayed for Saint Faustina’s intercession. After venerating her relic, he collapsed on the floor and felt unable to move for about 15 minutes. During his next regular check-up, Fr. Ron’s doctor could not explain the condition of the priest’s heart — it had returned to normal.This healing, like all presented to the Church as ”miracles,” was thoroughly and exhaustively researched by medical professionals and theologians who deal with the causes for saints.On Nov. 16, 1999, a panel of doctors declared the healing scientifically unexplainable. The healing was dubbed a miracle by theologians from the Church’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Dec. 7. Then, one week later, on Dec. 14, a panel of cardinals and bishops gave their unanimous approval.Finally, on Dec. 20, 1999, Pope John Paul II approved the healing as a miracle. It is expected that St. Faustina will be canonized on Mercy Sunday, April 30, 2000.

I Niels Christian Hvidts Mirakler berättas det på sidorna 229-230 om helandet som gjorde att Edith Stein blev helgonförklarat. Monsignore Michele di Ruberto på Helgonförklaringskommissionen berättar:

”Ett av de intressantaste undren på senare tid, som vi har varit vittne till, var det helande som gjorde att Edith Stein blev helgonförklarad. Edith Stein var en tysk judisk filosof, som från att ha varit ateist till sist blev karmelitnunna, innan hon avrättades i Auschwitz 1942. Miraklet skedde med en endast treårig liten flicka, som själv hade fått Edith Steins namn som nunna, Teresa Benedikt.

1987 stoppade flickebarnet i sig en stor mängd Panodil. De blodprover som refereras i journalen indikerar en förgiftning på sexton gånger den dödliga dosen, om man tar barnets ålder i beaktande. Flickan låg i koma, och läkarna gav henne inga chanser att överleva, om man inte fann en donator för levertransplantation. Flickans faster vände sig i bön till Edith Stein och bad om hennes förböner. Flickans organ började omedelbart fungera normalt igen, och efter att i några dagar ha legat under observation blev hon utskriven, utan transplantation. Jag följde själv fallet på nära håll och jag var djupt berörd. Läkaren som behandlade flickebarnet, dr Ronald Kleinman, professor i barnsjukdomar vid Harvard Medical School, kallade tillfrisknandet för ‘mirakulöst’ och kom till Rom för att klargöra några tekniska detaljer inom läkarkommissionen. I likhet med Edith Stein var han jude.”

Denna historia finns även på Wikipedia (i likhet med många andra oförklarliga helanden kopplade till helgon), och källan där är en artikel i den sekulära tidningen Toronto Star.

Avslutningsvis vill jag dela ett youtubeklipp där en läkare konstaterar att det inte finns någon medicinsk förklaring till att en kvinna efter att ha fått förbön kan kissa normalt trots att hennes urinblåsa har opererats bort:

Några av läkarna jag nämnt ovan är döda, andra lever och är bara att ta kontakt med om man vill ha ytterligare upplysningar (här är adressen till läkaren som vårdade barnet som fått i sig en dödlig dos Panodil och troligtvis är detta läkaren vars syster helades från hjärndödhet).

Allt detta vittnar om att Jesus lever och verkar mitt ibland oss. Till dig som har ångest antingen för att du har en svår sjukdom eller för att du inte är säker på att det finns ett evigt liv vill jag bara säga att det finns hopp, och det är i den man genom ”vars sår vi är helade” (Jes 52:5).