Member of Park Baptist Church

Administrator for BWCF

Viewpoint Co-editor

Network Yarmouth Webmaster

 

 

 

My life up to 1990, I thought, was pretty OK: I had a good job that I loved and was very handsomely paid for, I had a very comfortable home, two great daughters, very good social life, very good health, extremely fit, and everything I thought I wanted out of life. I thought I’d got it made

 

Then it happened. At 2pm on New Year's Eve 1990 the carotid artery in my brain decided to burst its banks - a pretty serious situation you would think. Well some people die and some people survive. There are two recognised events that go hand in hand with this event - a stroke and pneumonia. When you have a haemorrhage and one of them, your chances of survival are extremely slim; when you have the haemorrhage and both, your chances are reduced to practically zero and the medical men, frankly, do not expect you to survive. Well, I had all three happen and my family were told many times over the next three weeks that I had only one hour to live. Because this blood vessel had chosen to rupture at a most inconvenient time, the roads were icy and the wind blowy so was not allowed to travel by road and I was not allowed up in a helicopter, surgery was delayed by about ten days

 

However, I had surgery at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge on 12th January and my family were told that, in the unlikely event that I did survive, it was probable that I would need constant care for the rest of my life and, I am told, the word ‘vegetable’ was used. The warning was so positive that my, then, husband sold our business in order to be able to do this.   As you can see, I survived and was transferred back to the local hospital. On the 25th January I was allowed home

 

Naturally, there were follow-up appointments with the neurosurgeon from Addenbrookes and the consultant at the local hospital. The first of these appointments was in February with the surgeon, and he said that he couldn’t understand how I was still here and that I was a 'walking miracle'. He also said that I could return to work! The second appointment was with the local consultant and he said that he couldn’t understand how I was still here and that I was a 'walking miracle'. At that time, I was not a Christian and I just thought it was because I was as stubborn as a mule. Now I know better

 

1991 continued to be a very traumatic year. I was unable to do the job I loved as my brain was not so quick and I was very weak physically and emotionally. I was unable to earn the money to sustain the lifestyle we had: the house had to go on the market. My husband became extremely ‘distant’ and I began to feel that I had lost everything important in my life. In September, my husband suggested we take a holiday in Normandy and I reluctantly agreed. Our relationship by then had become very fragile as he, quite naturally, ‘wanted back the person I used to be’ so it was an extremely uncomfortable holiday with this person who didn’t really want to be with me and I truly knew what despair was

 

One day, we decided to visit Mount St Michel; something we both really had looked forward to. What a let-down. It was a beautiful place from the outside, but, once on the little island and inside the castle, it was like being in a giant MacDonald’s. There were fast food outlets at every corner, etc and not the place we thought we were going to. However, we came to a little church and I suggested we go inside. What a change! There was calm and quiet, no-one about, and we sat down. I felt an enormous sense of ‘something’ I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I felt safe, loved and really peaceful in all the turmoil of my mind; and I felt something like a great big cuddle and a voice saying “don’t worry; everything’s going to be alright”. Even writing it down now gives me a huge tingle!

 

Early in 1992, I had a whole new life to start – on my own. I moved house to a small terraced house (quite a change but it was all mine and the Building Society’s) and my whole life changed.   The Lord’s path led me to an Alpha course and I became a Christian in June, 1995, and, yes, I am as stubborn as a mule, but I also know that the Lord is the only person who could have such power to heal and he laid so many clues. Many people were praying hard for me (thankfully my brother was, and is, a Christian) and I thank his church (Gorleston Baptist Church) and praise the Lord for his mercy

 

The Lord has not fully healed me, as I know he could, and I thank him daily for the limitations, pain, etc that he has left with me as I am sure that had the Lord healed me and put me back to how I was, then I would have stayed where I was and would not have known Him in the way I now do. He always knows best! I take joy in the fact that he stripped me of everything I thought was important and the fact that He has limited me in order to bring me to Him and learn what is really important