Last week we heard how God gave Kate two wonderful children, Jonathan and David, despite the odds stacked against her. We also heard the terrifying story of how David was infected with viral encephalitis while in Hong Kong.

Are we ready to die? How should we live our lives, knowing that life is so brief and fragile?

To the outside world, David looked to be in a coma – as if asleep. Today we hear what David experienced, from his point of view.

David’s Story

David said he was born into a Christian family, but he had never taken religious matters seriously. Life to him was just living it for the sake of living.

During a sumptuous home-cooked dinner prepared by his aunt, he was not feeling very well and his vision blurred. After dinner at about 8pm, he felt dizzy so he went to lie down on the couch. 15 minutes later, his giddiness was so bad that he rushed to the toilet and started vomiting. His whole body went numb. His shocked father and uncle rushed to carry him onto a bed. The ceiling lights caused intense pain in his head. Soon after everything went black.

He found himself trapped in a bloody, rubbery bubble. He struggled to get out of the red bubble but there was no more air. It was difficult to breathe and he was suffocating. He thought he would die! He cried out, “Lord, save me please.” Then somehow, he closed his eyes and chewed on the bubble as hard as he could. Suddenly, a loud pop! He opened his eyes and saw a white light made of many shiny crystals. Behind each crystal seems to be a rainbow. He was awed – such magnificent beauty and so soothing.

Then he heard a voice calling, “David, David, wake up!” He realised he was on a hospital bed with his parents by his side. He tried to speak but couldn’t. Unknown to him, he was in Coma Level 3 – conscious but couldn’t respond. He then dozed off, exhausted.

The next morning, he woke up. He was relieved that he could move and talk. But a nurse told him not to move as there was water in his lungs. He was still in critical condition. Sometime later, he heard the voices of his parents and a Singapore neurologist. The doctor asked David many questions. The medical team who attended to him were puzzled as to what had happened.

The CT scans revealed haemorrhage at the posterior part of David’s brain. 40% of patients usually died from such bleeding. To be sure of their diagnosis, David went through all sorts of tests including angiogram, ECG, EEG, echocardiogram, MRIs and a lumbar puncture. Blood was drawn from him for the many tests.

Finally, David was diagnosed with viral encephalitis. An antiviral drug called acyclovir was used for the first time in Hong Kong and he responded well to this new drug. His white blood cell count returned to normal. His heartbeat which had been abnormal during the ordeal also became normal. All the medical specialists were baffled. It was a miracle! After 13 days, he was discharged from the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong.

After that, the family returned to Singapore. David went to the  National University Hospital for followup. After several tests and MRIs, he was declared completely healed with no abnormalities detected.

Doctors were astounded. Patients who had this condition were usually hospitalized for at least 3 weeks. But David was up within a week and discharged from hospital in 13 days. The recovery period after discharge is normally 6 months but David recovered completely in 6 weeks!

For David, he felt God’s powerful presence with him and knows God is real and living. God has a purpose for all of us. Whatever happens, God allows it for a reason and will walk us through it. His timing is always perfect. In His time, our God will reveal and prevail.

Why did David go through such an ordeal? Or why did God allow it? David asked God these questions too. The answer came in a totally unexpected way.

Dick’s Cancer

Two weeks after they returned to Singapore from Hong Kong in December 1995, Dick became unwell. The medical examination revealed an enlarged liver and he was warded immediately for more tests. He had late-stage liver cancer. He had only a 30% chance of survival and the cancer was spreading.

David’s illness had prepared his father’s faith. He had seen the reality of God’s love through David’s healing. He experienced God working and saw His miracle first-hand in their lives.

Dick received the news calmly and did not question God but submitted himself to Him.

At the year-end church meeting, Professor Freddie Boey spoke on “Letting Go”. It was about releasing life into God’s hands, whether one lived or died. The message spoke to him.

Dick was recommended faith-healing rallies and Chinese medical herbs but he declined them both. He had committed his life to God. So, if God really wanted to heal him, He would do it through his doctor. David’s ordeal strengthened him.

Dick was warded for chemotherapy for more than a week and experienced some discomfort. After he was discharged, he called his sons to him. He told each one separately, “Take care of mummy and listen to her.” Jonathan was then 19 years old and David was 16. Then he told Kate, “Anything can happen to me but nothing should happen to you.”

Kate was, of course, worried and troubled by Dick’s illness. Their son, David, just went through an episode in which he nearly died. She asked the Lord, “Why has this happened when he has hardly recovered from the shock and ordeal of David’s illness?” When she went for her medical checkup, she saw on a poster the words of the famous ‘Footprints’ poem. God did not answer her question, but gave her a deep assurance in these words:

“My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

God is merciful. After two weeks at home, Dick could neither eat nor drink much and had to be warded again and put on a drip. The doctor informed Kate, “Your husband has cancer in the liver, lungs, bones, bloodstream and lymph nodes. But he is lucky; his type of cancer is not painful.”

Kate never saw Dick groaning or writhing in pain. Only on 2 successive days, he requested for a few Panadols (paracetamol). Although he laid on his back most of the time, he never developed bedsores. Kate discovered that his skin on his back was harder than normal, as if the skin was toughened so as to prevent bedsores.

During his second hospitalization, Dick had nightmares of Satan trying to snatch his soul away. It happened 5 nights in a row.  Then David gave him a cross. For us Christians, a cross has no magic; it is simply a symbol, a reminder. But the nightmares stopped. Dick saw instead, a very bright light and a big door that had been flung open. It seemed Dick had a glimpse of Heaven.

After this incident, Dick wanted to go home. Kate’s sister arranged for home care. His faith was so strong that on one occasion, he told a visiting doctor, “If God heals me, well and good; if not, I am willing to go home to Him.”

Kate remembers, “From this I knew that he had the assurance of salvation. It was no wonder that throughout his illness – for two months – he seemed to hold dear to the verse in the Bible from Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” We are comforted that no matter how severe our trials, the Lord will give us additional strength to endure them if we stand firm in our faith.”

One day, Kate planned to drive their older son to the library to study for the final examinations. But that day Dick told Kate not to go. In his characteristic sweet and considerate way, he apologized to Jonathan for upsetting his schedule.  

After Jonathan left, Kate sat by Dick’s bedside and for the first time told him, “I love you.” He replied, “I love you, too.” A little while later, a nurse from the hospice and another lady visited Dick; they felt they had to see him first. After that, Dick breathed slowly, closed his eyes and passed away very peacefully.

Life is as uncertain as death is certain. An unknown poet once said:

The clock of life is wound but once

And no man has the power,

To tell just when the hands will stop.

At late nor early hour.”

Will you give your life to our Lord Jesus Christ?

Next week, we’ll listen to how God saved and sustained Kate’s family business for more than 90 years. Stay tuned.