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“The doctor, the specialist, said he’d never heard of anyone recovering from this condition apart from me!”
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“The doctor, the specialist, said he’d never heard of anyone recovering from this condition apart from me!”

Adrian Holloway on August 4, 2013 with 0 Comments

Here’s the transcript of an interview with Annie Temple from Biggin Hill, Kent, who came on stage at Newday 2013 to tell us her story one year on from her extraordinary, immediate and total healing at Newday 2012 when I prayed for the sick on the Thursday night at Newday 2012.

Q. What was the problem that you had when you came to Newday last year?

A. I had a heart condition called POTS. It’s Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Basically, when I stood up my heart would race really fast as if it was trying to beat out of my chest. Or how you’d be if you’d done an hour’s exercise. So I’d go from sitting to standing and just that would mean that my heart would be racing. My blood pressure would drop really low. I would often faint, pass out, you get blurred vision, just be exhausted all the time. Not living a normal life.

Q. How often did you pass out? How often did you faint?

If I was having a bad period, I’d faint or pass out more than once a day.

Just lifting both my hands above my head for 5 seconds would make me pass out, guaranteed. If someone had said, “you have to do something to make yourself faint” then just raising my hands for 5 seconds would have made me pass out for definite.

Q. What was the scariest moment?

I remember one time, my husband used to help me out of bed, stand me up and  help me to the sofa. And that’s where I’d be for the day. I remember getting up from the sofa, and going about 10 foot to the bathroom, passing out hitting my head on the sink. And waking up on the floor and just thinking this is it, no-one’s going to be home for hours. I can’t get up to get a phone.

Q. And you were telling me that you ended up seeing one of the top specialists at King’s College, London?

A. That’s right, he’s the top cardiac specialist in the UK. And he worked out obviously what was wrong with me. They ran quite a few tests. They are quite extensive tests. So they do a seven-day heart monitor, you write down what happens. Then I had an exercise test. It’s most similar to congenital heart failure. It shows all those types of symptoms. They strap you to a table in one of them and stand you up and find out how long it takes you to pass out, because that’s what basically the illness is. They did lots of heart investigations. Exercise tests. 

Q. When you were diagnosed with POTS, what was the prognosis?

There’s nothing they can do to actually heal it.

Q. So you’ve had this problem for several years?

A. I’ve had it for 6 years. I’ve got like 40 doctor’s letters.

Q. But you came to Newday last year, and you were standing in this meeting, and we prayed in the name of Jesus. Tell us what happened?

A. You prayed the first time and nothing happened. You prayed the second time and I had my hand on my heart. And after you’d prayed, I opened my eyes and I thought, “that’s really strange. I can’t feel my heart beating. Usually it would be working so hard. I’d be breathless. It’s a real struggle to stand up. And I thought that’s so strange, it just feels really slow. I can’t feel it. I was effortlessly standing up. That’s never happened before. Usually it felt like I’m doing aerobics just standing up is that hard work. My heart’s pumping.

So because I was standing effortlessly, I was sure I’d been healed, so I ran round the whole tent, which I’d never be able to do.

I did a lap running round the tent, came back to where I’d started and that’s when it hit me, I burst into tears. And I knew I’d be healed. It’s just gone. It is amazing. Incredible, I had been for a run round the whole tent, which I’d never be able to do. Stood for a whole hour. Held my hands up, praised God.

Q. So as far as you could tell Annie you had made an instant immediate complete recovery?

A. That’s definitely right. Yes. Instantly all my symptoms have gone. They’ve never come back. I’ve never had any symptoms again. It’a a year on now obviously.

Q. And of course you went back to see the specialist. You already had an appointment scheduled two weeks hence. And you were telling me that this guy, the top guy at King’s College London, he told you he doesn’t know of anyone who has recovered from this condition?

A. Yeah, that’s right. He’s never heard of anyone who’s recovered apart from me. I’m the only one. Because with POTS, there’s nothing they can do. They can’t heal it.

Of course they told me to do all the tests again. I’ve done all the tests again. I know that when they did the tests, all the results were of a normal person.

Q. Tell us Annie, what difference has this healing made to you?

I’m a completely different person now. After I was healed I felt like I was living in someone else’s body. My everyday life has changed forever. I can do normal things. I went home and played with my son. I ran around after him. I’ve got a job now. Just the hugest difference, a different life!

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about the author

Adrian is married to Julia. They have four daughters. He is based at Everyday Church in Wimbledon, and has written two books, "The Shock of Your Life" and "Aftershock," which tackles the strongest objections to Christianity in the form of a novel.