saved from death to be a beacon of God’s light
On May 28th 2014, I came home from school with a high fever. My mum and I thought it was just an infection and I would recover after seeing the doctor. But over the next few days, I grew weaker physically and mentally. I lost my appetite, I couldn’t walk without feeling dizzy and I vomited everything that I put into my mouth. Then, I started having severe abdominal and chest pain. On 30th May, I was rushed to KK Hospital Emergency room and put on a drip. I was in the normal ward and my father stayed in the hospital to take care of me. But my condition grew worse and I was moved to the high dependency ward. I went through many scans so that the doctors could find the cause of my illness.
After the CT scan, the doctors found evidence of bacterial spots on my spleen. A cardiologist scanned my heart and found a ‘string’ (thrombus) of staphylococcus bacteria in the left ventricle and I was diagnosed with Infective Endocarditis. I was immediately moved to the cardiac ward and treated with penicillin antibiotics from a PICC line, which was a tube that went from my upper right arm to my heart. This medicine is administered every four hours. There was a chance the thrombus could latch onto my heart valve and cause it to be infected, hence, the medical doctors and surgeons debated if I should go for surgery. Thank God, the antibiotics cleared my bloodstream of the bacteria and slowly shrunk the bacteria in my heart. Eventually, the surgeons decided that I did not need surgery. I was so happy that I wouldn’t have a scar on my body!
I knew God was protecting me and I knew there was hope. Even though there were endless blood tests and pain, I knew God wouldn’t let me go through more than what I could take.
There was once I felt intense pain on my chest and I started to cry and the nurse asked what my pain score was on the scale of 1-10 and where the pain was. I whimpered a soft, “Chest, 8.” Then I asked, “Am I going to die?” She replied: “Of course not, you’ll be fine in a few weeks.”
During the six weeks I was being treated in the hospital, I sometimes wished that I would just go to heaven in my sleep. That never happened though; perhaps my time wasn’t up yet. My mum believed my recovery was a miracle, and I wondered why God had extended my life. Maybe God was giving me the chance to celebrate my 15th birthday with the doctors and other patients in my ward? After a few weeks, I realised that God had saved me from death for a special reason.
When I was in the hospital, everyday my parents would pray for me at my bedside before they went home at night. My dad would always end the prayer with, “Let her be a shining light to others around her.” But I never understood what it meant. Interestingly, one night, I heard a quiet voice and I knew in my heart that it was God saying these words to me: “Be a beacon of my light.” Then I knew what my dad was praying. God was answering my dad’s prayer and He had extended my life so that I will reflect His light and share my testimony with as many as I can, letting them know what a wonderful God we have. It is my heart’s desire that many will come to know Christ as their Savior.
Kelvina Nga,15 years old
(Kelvina is back to school. She worships at 9 am Sunday Service with her family.)
First published in The Courier, October 2014.