A Virginia man’s medical emergency became the catalyst for what he describes as a divine intervention that not only restored his own health but also brought spiritual healing to a hospital worker struggling with grief and anger.
Maurice experienced a sudden and severe medical crisis on May 3, 2019, when he felt unusual sensations throughout his head before losing control of his body. “Felt sparks coming all through my head and I was totally out of control,” he recalled. “I screamed and I fell to the floor.”
Emergency response and prayer
When his wife Earlene discovered Maurice on the floor unable to move or speak, she immediately began praying over him before contacting emergency services. “I prayed that he be completely healed from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, and that he would have no, side effects or anything like that,” the wife said.
During transport to Chesapeake General Hospital in Virginia, Maurice made his own desperate plea, crying out, “God, you got to help me.”
Unexpected recovery during medical imaging
Maurice’s condition took a dramatic turn during a CT scan procedure. As medical staff administered imaging dye, he experienced what he describes as a profound physical change. “I began as that dye went in to feel like, ‘Hey, I’m coming back again. The dye is washing,'” he exclaimed. “And I felt myself getting whole again.”
While the timing coincided with the medical procedure, Maurice attributed his recovery to divine intervention rather than the imaging dye. “I just said, ‘Lord, you’ve done this,'” he proclaimed. “Whatever happened to my body, I’m healed.”
Medical imaging later verified that Maurice had indeed suffered a stroke. MRI Technologist Ashley Bassinger explained, “It was on the left side of his brain, so that will affect the right side of your body typically. When he came for his MRI, he really didn’t have any deficits. They had all subsided.”
Sharing his experience with hospital staff
Following his rapid recovery, Maurice felt compelled to share his experience with hospital personnel. “The nurses and people who came in to clean the room. All I could just say was what a good God that I served and how He’d healed me so,” he said.
“I just rejoiced so much,” Maurice said. “I was so thankful that God had healed me. And I even told the doctor that God had healed me.”
A nurse finds her own healing
During his hospital stay, Maurice’s testimony reached a nurse named Ashley who was carrying her own emotional burden. She opened up to Maurice about her struggles with faith following her father’s death.
“She (Ashley) began to say, ‘You know, I’m angry with God. I lost my father. God took my father,'” Maurice recounted.
Ashley herself acknowledged the depth of her pain: “I was really unhappy with my relationship with God because I didn’t understand why my dad got taken from me. I was almost so angry, like I could feel it every day. Like I was carrying it with me.”
Maurice offered comfort and a different perspective. “And I said, ‘Oh Ashley, your father is still alive. He’s still in you,'” Maurice told her. “And I just told her how much love God had for her.”
The conversation proved transformative for Ashley, who now views the encounter as providential. “This man is here, this is your angel. He’s been sent to you to let you know that God is all around and everything has happened the way it’s supposed to happen. It was amazing,” she says.
“I know that God is with me every day,” Ashley testified, “And you just never know when something’s going to happen to you to change your life. By me talking to Mr. Hilliard for a half hour, maybe, you know, I helped him, but he changed my life forever.”
Reflecting on how his medical crisis created an opportunity to impact another person’s life, Maurice expressed gratitude despite the ordeal. “If Ashley could say, ‘God sent you by here for me,’ And I had a miracle. And if it took that, God, for You to get the glory, God it was worth it all. It was worth it all,” Maurice said in tears.
