Richmond’s testimony

Praise be to God! I’m a living miracle! I woke up finding myself in a hospital bed at the Heart Institute in the Civic Hospital on a Sunday afternoon. Cinzia, my wife, started to share some of what happened to me. She said: I was at a fitness competition at the gym on Sunday, April 21st. I got off the treadmill (which I wouldn’t do during a fitness competition because I’m very competitive) and told the trainer, “I’m a little tired, and I need to sit down, so I sat on the floor and then immediately passed out, having gone into cardiac arrest, which is when your heart stops, worse than a heart attack.

The personal trainers at the gym did compressions on me for 13 minutes until the paramedics arrived. The trainers who did the compressions happened to be St. Pius grads (Eleni Leiper and Lindsay Walsh). I used to work out with them in their grade 12 fitness classes all the time with Mrs. Kim Delorey. I’m forever grateful to them for having helped save my life! The paramedics finally got there and rushed me to the Heart Institute. After several hours of working on me, the cardiologist told my wife that she was very concerned about my condition. Over the course of the following days, the doctors continued to express their concern since I wasn’t waking up, that I continued to need life support and that my heart was weak. They were preparing her for the worst. They told my wife that even if I woke up, there was likely extensive damage to my brain due to the lack of oxygen during the cardiac arrest.

Instead of Cinzia listening to the doctor’s negative report, she spoke healing scriptures right into my ear while I was unconscious… “You shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord!” she said over and over again. “With long life, he will satisfy you and then show you his salvation.” She started speaking life over my body in the name of Jesus. She commanded my heart to be strong, for my breathing to be strong and for me to wake up. The men’s prayer group I’m a part of would agree with her. Father Frank Scott would often come to the hospital and pray for me. At the same time, people from all over Ottawa and beyond were uniting in prayer for my healing.

After several days of me being unconscious, the neurologist was attempting to wake me up and still wasn’t getting a response. What was very concerning to the doctor was that I wasn’t responding to pain stimulation either. Shortly after the neurologist left the room, my wife prayed and heard in her spirit to tell me to wake up and to push hard on a part of my calf muscles and feet where I tended to have pain in the past. She did this only to see me open my eyes, and I jolted up with a big smile. She immediately told the nurse, who said ‘this looks hopeful”. The incredible staff at the hospital rejoiced, with my wife clapping and cheering.

Over the course of the next couple of days, I was taken off of life support and began to slowly move my hands, feet and legs; however, I still couldn’t speak. It seemed as though the brain injury had also impacted the speech centre of my brain. One morning, I was listening to the audiobook of the Bible and the testimonies of Jesus healing many, and I would picture myself speaking. Within about 20-30 minutes of listening to the Bible, I began to say AMEN, ALLELUIA repeatedly, even though with great difficulty. Again, the hospital staff were surprised and rejoicing. My wife later asked a staff member at the hospital: “You all seem very surprised with the progress my husband has made. Do you not see this too often?” and the staff member responded, “Never.” Within three weeks, my body was strong enough to have surgery, and over the course of the following weeks and months, I continued to make remarkable progress.

I trust that God will continue to do the work in me as I heal from the brain injury that I received from having hardly any oxygen going to my brain for almost 13 minutes. I genuinely believe the Lord had prepared us for what we went through. For the past ten years, my wife and I have studied the topic of healing in God’s Word. Thank God to our Christian brothers and sisters who have had miracles and healings through their ministries. By listening to their healing testimonies and how they stood in faith for healing, they started giving us hope, healing, wisdom and strength. These ministries emphasized the importance of meditating on scripture regularly. Doing this began to help my understanding of God’s heart for healing. My new understanding also influenced how I ministered healing to others. However, early on, when I would step out in faith and pray for others, I remember a couple of healings. However, as years went by, I became stronger in my faith in praying over others. I started to step out more and more by praying over anyone who had any physical pain or ailment. I began to see many of the people I prayed over becoming healed.

My understanding that God wants you well became my mindset, and it totally changed the way I prayed with others. I did not give up believing after one prayer. I would stand in faith and encourage others to do the same. I started using Dr. Sandra Kennedy’s book, The Magnificent Word of the Lord. There’s a chapter specifically with healing scriptures. I photocopied this chapter and gave it to those who needed it. More recently, a young man I knew came up to me to thank me for the healing scriptures, as they used them to pray for their grandfather and to let me know that his grandfather was completely cancer-free!

Thanks be to God, and Praise God for His promises in the bible! I stand here today, alive and well, grateful that I now have the opportunity to encourage you to believe in God and do the miraculous in your lives. In …Mark 16:17-18, "Believers, they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” I encourage you to step out in faith and pray for those who need healing, whether that be in their body or mind. Stand in faith with others, and when you encounter trials in your life, don’t let yourself be moved by what you see or hear; rather, stay focused on God’s power to deliver you or them from whatever challenges you or your loved one might be facing.