Most of us have our own unique stories in how we’ve dealt with COVID-19 for the past 15 months. From wearing face masks, to keeping a “safe distance” away from others, to perhaps working from home for the first time.
Still, others have experienced personal tragedies from this worldwide pandemic, striking loved ones and those individuals with compromised immunities, especially the elderly, the most vulnerable group within our society.
Bettina Lerman, 69, was one of those elderly individuals stricken with the deadly disease which has claimed tens of thousands of lives around the globe, mostly within that senior population.
The Florida resident had been battling the disease for months. However, her prognosis didn’t look good, and each day the battle brought new challenges for doctors attempting to save her life.
They had already anticipated what was in store for Lerman. It would be just a matter of time before the disease claimed another innocent victim.
As the virus progressed further, ravaging the elderly woman’s body, she was put on a life-support ventilator hoping to ease her breathing as she quickly fell into a coma.
Doctors finally came to the conclusion, as they’ve done thousands of times before, that Lerman’s chances of surviving COVID-19 was medically hopeless. Only a miracle could save her now.
Nevertheless, the medical team was resigned to make Lerman’s life as comfortable as humanly possible within a hospital setting.
Her family had been notified that although she had been on a life-support ventilator for several weeks, the comatose woman showed no signs of improvement; in fact just the opposite.
Doctors had begun to prepare family members on the inevitable, that Lerman would die within a matter of weeks. With that devastating news, family members began making funeral arrangements, even ordering a headstone.
“We donated everything in her apartment for others in need at her senior community,” her daughter, Jennifer Miele, said.
Adding; “We had already went to the funeral home and was planning her funeral, with the little bit she had left.”
Perhaps even more devastating for family members, was not being able to sit by Lerman’s bedside during those few precious days she had left. It appeared that COVID had even robbed a final goodbye for her daughter.
Doctors had discussed with family members the possibility of removing Lerman from her life-support apparatus, once a medical milestone had been reached, regarding the elderly patient’s hopeless condition.
After another brief consultation with family members, doctors decided to remove her life-support ventilator the following day.
However, God had other plans for Lerman, and no-sooner than the doctors at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine had ordered Lerman’s life-support removed, she opened her eyes.
They had started picking out a gravestone, planning what she would wear for the funeral, canceled her lease and donated her belongings, when suddenly, Bettina Lerman woke up. https://t.co/3SDUPiaNF8 via @Yahoo
— MaxineElizabeth1 (@Max111206) November 18, 2021
Andrew, Lerman’s son, received a call from the doctor and he had the biggest surprise of his life when he learned that his mom was already awake. “The doctor’s like, ‘Well, I need you to come here right away.’ I was like, ‘OK, what’s wrong?’” he recalled. “He goes, ‘Well, there’s nothing wrong. Your mother woke up.’”
He went on to explain that his mom is a devout Christian, a “prayer warrior” who believes in the power of prayer. Her daughter revealed that while Lerman was fighting for her life, her friends (also devout Christians), prayed for her recovery in church.
Andrew, while not a religious person, knew something powerful was at work. “So they can’t explain it on the medical side. Maybe it’s on the religious side,” her son said. “I’m not that religious, but I’m starting to believe that there’s something that helped her. I don’t know.” He added, “She’s a miracle.”
John 12:44 “He that believeth in me, believeth not in me, but in him that sent me.”
This story syndicated with permission from My Faith News
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