A BROKEN LEG

Before we came to believe in Christ, my family was Buddhist. When I was young, we lived in Taipei where my father, who is a traditional Chinese medicine physician, had his own practice.

In 1991 I turned seven and started first grade. After the third day of school, my sister and I were doing homework in one of the examination rooms at my father’s clinic. I was mischievous, and I started to jump up and down on the chair.

Unexpectedly, the chair turned over while I was jumping and I fell. I knew that I should have gotten up from the ground, but I couldn’t because everything was spinning in front of my eyes.

My father heard the chair turn over, so he came to see what had happened. He helped me up, and noticed that while my right leg was supporting me, my left leg was unable to do so. He knew that my left leg was broken.

I was sent immediately to the hospital. The X-rays revealed that my femur was broken. But because the hospital was full, I couldn’t be admitted as a patient.

My father remembered that there was a hospital that combined Eastern and Western medical practices in treating patients. Not long before, a relative had been in a car accident and his many broken bones, which were in worse condition than my break, were healed at this hospital.

So my parents took me to this other hospital for treatment. The doctor told us that my bone would start growing back together within two weeks, and that within three months my wounds would be closed and I would be completely healed. So my parents felt reassured and I was admitted as a patient there.

COMPLICATIONS FROM TREATMENT

But many things in life are unexpected. The doctor misdiagnosed my injury and the resulting treatment caused my condition to worsen. I was treated using Eastern medicine, so after my bones were set in the correct position, instead of putting on a cast (which is the Western way) they bound my leg with elastic bandages to maintain the position.

However, my bandages were redone twice because the doctor felt that the setting was incorrect. The third time they bound my leg, they tightened the elastic to make sure the position was stable. But because the bindings were so tight, the blood circulation in my leg dropped, and my tissues and muscles started to die.

My parents had noticed that my left leg wasn’t moving, and my mother notified the nurse. But the nurse said that this was probably because I was afraid to move because of pain, and it wasn’t something to worry about.

The next morning, as my mother was washing my leg with a warm towel, she asked me if the temperature was too hot. My response shocked her, because I asked, “Are you washing my leg?” I couldn’t feel anything. I was sent to another hospital right away.

In the emergency room, the doctor removed the elastic wrapping around my leg and discovered that it was completely bruised and blackened, and covered with blisters. The doctor immediately sent me to surgery.

In the operating room, the doctor put screws into my knee and ankle to stabilize the bones. But because of the bruises and blisters, he couldn’t put plaster on my leg to make a cast.

After two weeks of close observation, my situation hadn’t improved. My left leg couldn’t move at all, so the doctor recommended another surgery to see the actual condition.

The wounds in my leg from the surgeries were so large and deep they became infected. The situation was very dangerous as there seemed to be no sign of recovery. The dead muscles and tissues in my leg had been removed during my surgeries so that all that remained was skin and bone. I had lost all sensation in my nerves.

Although I had an infection I felt fine during the day. But at night I started to have high fevers. For nineteen days my temperature was around 104°F. I lost so much weight that I was down to twenty-five pounds.

No matter what treatment I was given, my fever did not go down. In addition, the medication gave me side effects. But they couldn’t stop giving me medicine because my life would have been in danger.

INTRODUCED TO THE TRUTH

One day, I underwent another surgery. My father was hopeful that there would be good news. The surgeon asked my father to come into the operating room because he needed to explain my situation.

He told my father that it was impossible for my leg to heal. The muscles could no longer function. After such a long period of observation and treatment, and after much discussion among the doctors, they concluded that the only course of action was to amputate my leg.

My parents had to make a decision within the next three days. Because of the infection in my leg, my life would be in danger beyond that time.

When I awoke and was back in my room, I remember seeing my parents crying. My father blamed himself for taking me to the hospital where the doctor had misdiagnosed my condition. He felt despair that even though he was a doctor, he couldn’t even help his own daughter. Their sorrow that day is something that I can never forget. It was as if there was no hope left.

Since my family was Buddhist, my seventy-year-old grandfather went around to many temples to burn incense and pray for me. Even though he tried so hard to help me through these prayers, my condition didn’t improve. It became worse and worse. My whole family was sad and worried.

At this time, when we were hopeless, thank God my aunt came to preach the gospel to us. She was a member of True Jesus Church and told my dad how the end of man’s ways is the beginning of God. She said, “Why don’t you try praying to God? There are many signs and miracles in my church, and there are many testimonies that you could consult.”

She gave us a copy of Youth Communion,¹ which had a testimony that was very similar to my situation. Through the mercy of God, that person was healed.

So through this introduction to True Jesus Church, my father came to know Elder Chang. He and his wife, as well as the visitation team from church, came constantly to the hospital to visit me and pray for me. This is how my parents began to have a deeper understanding of the truth.

SAVED THROUGH GOD’S GRACE

At that time it just happened to be Taipei church’s spiritual convocation, so my father attended service the second night. Miraculously, when the nurse took my temperature that same night, it was down to 100°F—even though the medication had not been changed.

The next day, when the doctor changed my bandages and was putting on medicine, there was a lot of discharge from my wounds. This was a good sign, because the presence of fluids meant that there was hope for recovery, and that my tissues and muscles were not all dead. God had heard the prayers of my father and the brothers and sisters in church.

My condition started to improve steadily after my father went to church, and there was no more talk of amputating my leg. The doctors were amazed by this. I had recovered and my leg had been saved.

Under the arrangement of God, there was a sister from church who introduced us to a neurosurgeon at the National Taiwan University hospital. After he operated on me, I started to improve until I was well enough to be discharged from the hospital.

God manifested His power to me and I escaped from death. If my father hadn’t gone to church, I would not have received mercy or healing from God. In True Jesus Church, we truly have the grace of God and the love of brothers and sisters.

God let my family know Him through my situation, so that I truly experienced His grace and blessings. God’s love is great. Not only did he give me peace, he gave my family faith.

In April of the next year, my whole family was baptized at Taipei church and became His children. I thank the almighty God that at the time of my despair and hopelessness that He stretched out His hand to me and saved me. Now, I can walk everywhere with both my legs.

Under God’s protection, my whole family received peace and joy, and we came to know Him. This is the greatest joy that I have experienced. May all the glory be unto the true God in heaven. Amen.

1. Editor’s note: A publication of the Taiwan GA, now merged into Holy Spirit Monthly.

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