Testimony: Paralyzed Daughter Stands Up After Being Bedridden for 28 Years

A picture of Sister C's daughter who was less than eight months old
A picture of Sister C's daughter who was less than eight months old
By Li ShiguangMay 18th, 2022

A woman has been paralyzed from illness for 28 years, but neither she nor her Christian mother gave up. They firmly relied on God in difficult situations, seeking all kinds of medical help for recovery, and praying to God fervently. As a result, after having persevered for more than 20 years, the daughter is finally able to stand up, thanks to the amazing road that God had opened for them.

A few days ago, the mother shared the true story of her daughter standing up after having been bedridden for 28 years. T

The following story was told from her own perspective:

My daughter was born in 1993. One night in June 1994, being only eight months old, she suddenly started to have a high fever. Two days after having an intravenous drip infusion, she had an epileptic seizure. Later, at our local hospital, she was diagnosed with encephalitis which caused symptoms of epilepsy and left hemiplegia. Being treated for two weeks, she was discharged from the hospital and returned home. Afterward, my daughter's condition became very bad with frequent convulsions.

Since she was hospitalized at only eight months old, the doctor had prescribed phenobarbital tablets which my daughter had taken for more than sevem years until I found that her eyes appeared abnormal with deviation, and she reacted slow, even a little demented. At that time, I realized that she shouldn’t take this medicine any longer. If not, her situation would become more and more serious and in addition to paralysis, she would be mentally retarded.

I had been praying earnestly before God, "God, if you let this child live on, I will serve you willingly. But if you take her away, it will also be very good since it doesn’t matter how long we live in the world, but the salvation of our souls matters."

After praying, God gave me strength, with which I stopped giving my daughter the phenobarbital tablets that she had been taking, for I knew that this medicine was not very useful for her condition. Since she had been taking the medicine for seven years, her body reacted very strongly once she stopped. For about a week, she had so dreadful spasms that her body had been twisting involuntarily.

People around me, including my parents, relatives, church members as well as my husband, all opposed my decision to stop my daughter from taking the medicine.

I experienced such hardship for about ten days during which I almost didn’t do anything but just held my daughter in my arms. Thanks Him that she gradually got rid of spasticity after this period.

On July 31, 2001, I participated in a vocal training during which I thought about the choir of my church which wasn’t well organized yet. Afterward, I told the elders that I wanted to establish a choir in the church which was successfully formed in August of that year.

On the day the choir officially started, I trained the choir members in the church on vocal fundamentals. At that time, I asked one brother to help me to take care of my daughter. Unfortunately, in less than 10 minutes after the training started, my daughter got syndromes of convulsion, eyelid myoclonic, and foaming at the mouth. Before that, she also had many convulsions, and every time I took her to the hospital for an IV drip infusion. Only this time, I treated it otherwise by kneeling down and praying for her, as I was followed by all the choir members. Later, the church elders asked me if I wanted to take the child to the hospital, to which I answered that I would never do that again. I had made up my mind before God that I would never go to hospital with her again, but rely on the Lord alone.

In my mind, I always had an idea that God would test me at least three times, which I had never told anyone else. However, I had been waiting for these new trials.

One late night in November 2001, while sleeping, I had a dream that something seemed to have happened to my daughter. When I woke up, the first thing I did was touch her (my daughter was sleeping next to me at that time), and found that she was actually having a seizure. Turning on the light and waking up my husband, I then knelt down and prayed for about half an hour. My daughter slowly stopped convulsing. That was the second trial. However, I knew there would be the third one.

Right before the Spring Festival in 2001, on the evening of the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, again in the middle of the night, I saw something happen to my daughter in a dream, which coincided with the reality that she was having another seizure. I woke my husband up again before I knelt down and prayed to God. As a result, my daughter stopped convulsing and showed signs of recovery after I prayed for a short while, as told by my husband. After praying, I became very peaceful in my heart and no longer worried about the child.

From that time until now, it’s been 21 years since my daughter ever had a seizure. Also from that day, her health began to improve little by little.

For more than eight years before that, my daughter could not stand upright at all. Not being able to even sit up, she could only lie down. Her body would get better a little bit after having a convulsion for a month or two before being afflicted with another convulsion for which her body was completely paralyzed again...

Since the last convulsion at the age of eight, my daughter's physical condition has gradually begun to improve. Never having another convulsion again, her body had gradually become stronger even though she couldn’t stand up.

When I had some church work to do, served in the choir, or took part in preaching from the podium, many believers took turns taking care of my two children. They brought my daughter to their homes during the day. Then I took her home after serving at night. My son was healthy and often stayed at these believers’ homes day and night. They told me, “Sister C, don’t worry, we will take good care of your children, while you just serve with peace of mind.” Whoever had time would look after them before another person took over in a few days. Sometimes even I didn’t know whose home the children were at.

To help my daughter learn how to walk, I bought her an adult walker. In 2020, we also found a therapist who is specialized in whole-body rehabilitation. He was very sympathetic to my daughter. Knowing that my family was having financial difficulties because of her condition, he decided to provide my daughter with treatment products for free.

One afternoon in April, I stayed at home with my daughter. Swiping my phone, I didn't notice that she slowly stood up from the stool by herself without holding anything to support her. I was shocked at seeing this.

After realizing what happened, I quickly videotaped her standing up with my mobile phone, and sent it to her therapist.

Afterword:

Sister C became a Christian in 1990 and later she was the leader of a local church from 2015 to 2021, serving the church as well as participating in the choir for a long time. After leaving the position as the leader of the church, C began to focus on looking after her daughter and rehabilitating her body. She said that she was hugely encouraged by her daughter being able to stand up. She would continue to persevere with her until she fully recovered.

Pastor S happily shared that apparently, it seemed to be a miracle that C’s daughter successfully stood up after having been paralyzed for so many years. However, behind the miracle, C and her daughter kept their faith and never gave up, believing that when they firmly trusted in God, He would surely give them a way out.

"After C's daughter could stand up successfully, I visited them at home once. I went to pick up an express package with her daughter who spent more than half an hour walking about 800 meters with an adult walker, which moved me very much. She believed that she would fully recover, and even hoped to have a family and learn to drive in the future.” Pastor S said that rather than simply knowing it as a miraculous story or testimony, we actually should see the power of faith which would not be defeated by reality. We should always believe and hope, and always find a way out, which is what everyone can practice in life.

- Translated by Shuya Wang

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