I was going to post this in the introduction, but saw this thread.
In 1970 My mum suffered from the onset of multiple sclerosis, gradually loosing the use of both legs, then both hands. There were times she wanted to die, she even asked us to help her die, this was something we were just not able to do.
!991, My mum went into a coma and was rushed to hospital, her breathing was a horrible gurgling sound, nicknamed the death rattle. The doctors said she had days to live and there was nothing they could do for her. We called a priest, although none of us had a faith at the time, we just thought it was what you should do as mum was bought up a Catholic.
The priest came and as he prayed; my mum’s breathing seemed to relax and the gurgling sound disappeared. about ten minutes after the priest walked out the door, mum came round and she started to speak, she had no recollection of being in hospital. The doctors were surprised at her recovery; and she was discharged the following day without treatment.
We thought it might have been a temporary reprieve, but she lived another eleven years. Having our mum back was a mixed blessing, because she spent about the last fifteen years of her life paralysed from the neck down. After surviving the coma my mum regarded her healing as a blessing, and she now said she wanted to live.
I really couldn’t understand how she seemed to just accept being paralysed from the neck down; she had a sound mind. I could not understand how she seemed to be at peace with her horrific existence. She rarely complained and often seemed more worried and concerned about our problems than her own. She had a faith in God and she sometimes used to say that she is ready to meet Jesus now. People might have said that it would have been kinder for her to have passed away in hospital.
I can only say that I will never meet a stronger and kinder person than my mum; I always remember her smile. Somehow through my mum’s faith in God, I learned to accept life’s problems and to search for my own peace.