Frontline News
—August 5, 2010
Tim Spurling
Snohomish, Washington
Well by God’s grace my brother Sam and I made it back safely from Ghana last week.
I would like to offer up a testimony of God’s greatness and healing power. Please let me take the time to recount the events of the last week. On my flight home, I was a little weak. Two days later, my family headed down to the Oregon coast, Lincoln City, for our annual family reunion.
That Sunday morning, the 25th, I was feeling quite ill with a very high fever, my symptoms were the same as last year when I came down with typhoid. I asked my father to take me to the doctor for the necessary meds. I was extremely sick with terrible nausea, vomiting and high and repeated fevers. He took me to urgent care in Salem on Wednesday. Increased nausea, fevers, and heavy sweats showed the meds were not working so, clearly, this was not typhoid! I battled the symptoms but by Friday morning I was so delirious my father took me to the ER at Samaritan Hospital in Lincoln City. I have no memory of the following events. I had a temp of 95, which then shot up to over 102°. My heart rate also shot up to over 130 beats a minute, several liters of IV fluids were administered. At 3pm I had become unresponsive and had to be intubated. The ICU doc tested my blood, positive for malaria. Because of the foggy weather, I was taken by ambulance to Spirit Mountain so I could then be “life flighted” to the Oregon Health & Science University Hospital complex and put in ICU. Several different teams of doctors and interns were involved in my care. Saturday morning I was diagnosed with cerebral malaria, the most deadly and rare of the four malaria strands. Because of the swelling in my brain, a very blunt Indian doctor told my parents, “For 65 year person, I give him 100% dead, for 22 year person, 50/50—and I don’t even think I give him that!” When my mother saw him the next day, she told him, “…well, then, that’s a win-win.”
All Saturday and into Sunday the nurses were pinching and poking me trying to bring me out of my coma, but I was totally unresponsive to any stimuli. An experimental malaria drug was flown down to OHSU from the Seattle CDC. It’s a drug not licensed for use in the US, (not much malaria in the States!)
Finally on Sunday afternoon, after many blood transfusions, platelets, more fluids, etc, meds, etc., I slowly came to. The ventilator and NG tube was removed. Later, when I tried to stand, I had to be supported because my whole body felt like lead! However, since then, by God’s miraculous hand, He has raised me back to full health! This was supposedly the first case of malaria the Hospital, an immense complex, has ever witnessed. Because of this, I was sort of a celebrity amongst the Doctors and Nurses who all had to acknowledge this great work of God!
We continue to hold up in prayer those unbelievers who saw this marvelous work of God, may He be merciful to them as He has been to us and reveal His Son in them.
I did not deserve God’s call into the fellowship of his Son. This last week I have been profoundly aware of the great privilege it is to partake of this resurrection life of Christ! Yet once again, Christ has saved my life and brought me from death to life. Praise the LORD with me for He is worthy!
Your brother in Christ, Timothy Spurling.

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