In 1906 our four-year-old daughter was taken with a disease of the throat, the attack being so severe that upon the advice of the physicians whom we had consulted we took her to the hospital that same night. We reached there at ten o'clock, and in view of the extreme seriousness of the condition an operation was performed immediately. When we arrived at the hospital the child seemed more dead than alive, and we still feel greatly indebted to the physician who was present on this occasion, for his willingness to help. About eleven, after the operation, we were called into the room to see our child. The difficulty in breathing had been removed, and all things considered the case took a favorable course during the next two days; but on the third day we received a telephone message telling us that the child was not well, and any one may fancy how we felt during our ride to the hospital. Great kindness was shown us there, and it was arranged that we could be alone with our child, for according to the physicians' opinion she had but a few hours to live. After inquiring whether nothing could be done, the answer was in the negative.
The thought then came that in a case like this God alone could help, and my wife and myself immediately agreed to have our child treated in Christian Science. I took leave of the child and my wife and drove to a Christian Science practitioner's home. I was fortunate enough to find her there, and she promised to take up treatment for our daughter immediately. After the first treatment a change took place at once, and the nurse thought this to be a serious symptom, but my wife took the opposite stand, trusting that the results were due to the action of the truth. I inquired several times during the day about the child's condition, as it was not possible for me to return before the evening, and according to my wife's and the nurse's statements the crisis had been very severe in the afternoon, the child having presented the appearance of death. When I arrived my wife showed traces of the struggle which she had gone through a few hours previous, but I found the child breathing quietly and the condition was entirely different from that in which I had seen her when I left in the forenoon. My wife and I said to each other: "Lieschen is going to be well," and this has come true. The struggle had been very severe, but suddenly the child had raised herself and asked for her mother, who was sitting at her bedside. When the nurse came in again, she was unable to account for the change. With the firm trust in our hearts that the danger was over, my wife and I praised the omnipotence of God, and gave thanks. From this hour on the child improved rapidly.
This was on the day before Pentecost, and we left the hospital with the thought that our child had been preserved through divine help, and that we could look forward to the beautiful pentecostal day with joyful hearts. The physicians and nurses expressed themselves several times to the effect that it was almost unbelievable that our child should have got over the disease, and that wonders still seemed to occur. The physicians continued to doubt the child's complete recovery, as they believed the heart to have been greatly affected through the hard struggle, but she is now over seven years old and a well and strong girl. Words are inadequate to describe the wonderful result manifested in this case through God and His glorious Science.
