My father, Daniel Lee, was mending a punctured car tyre by the roadside when he was knocked down by another vehicle.

He was just 36 years old in 1983.

He lay there injured and helpless for over an hour, before an ambulance finally arrived. By the time he was rushed to the hospital, his condition was critical.

The doctors delivered heartbreaking news to my mother: The chances of him surviving were slim. Even if he did pull through, he was likely to spend the rest of his life bedridden.

My mother was overwhelmed with fear and uncertainty.

How would she care for a bedridden husband while raising three young children alone?

I was only three years old at the time. My brothers were six and one. 

The author celebrating his first birthday with his parents and elder brother Gaius. Their younger brother Paul was not yet born. The author’s father met with the car accident two years after this photo was taken.

The image of my father lying in the hospital bed, body encased in casts, is etched in my memory, even after all these years.

My father regained consciousness, but could not accept the doctor’s prognosis that he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Our church pastor, the late Pastor James Hing, came to the hospital and prayed for my father.

Many others from our church joined in prayer as well, believing that Jesus has the power to heal, even though the doctors had reached the limits of medical science, even though all hope seemed lost.

During those darkest moments, my father also prayed boldly to God. He had only become a Christian four years earlier. 

Quoting Kings 20 and Isaiah 38, my father told God: “Lord, just as You extended King Hezekiah’s life by fifteen years, You can extend mine too.” 

Ps James also brought a word from 1 Peter 2:24: “By His wounds you have been healed.”

This verse became a lifeline for my father. He clung to it, repeating it over and over until it stirred up his faith.

The author’s father, Daniel Lee (fifth from left, in white) and pastor James Hing (right, in white), with members of their house church in 1979.

Then the unexplainable happened.

Celebrating the author’s fifth birthday in 1985 – two years after the accident – and his father’s recovery.

My father began to recover. Strength returned to his body.

From being completely immobilised, he progressed to sitting up, then standing, and eventually walking. After just one month in the hospital, he was discharged – much to the amazement of the medical staff.

The Lee brothers were in primary school when this photo was taken in the late 1980s.

The doctors, unable to explain his sudden recovery, recorded it in their reports as a “miracle”.

Though my father could no longer exercise rigorously nor carry heavy things after the accident, he could still work and function normally to fulfil his daily needs.

The accident was a catalyst of change

My father’s miraculous recovery deepened his faith in God.

He left his job in the business world and, together with my mother, became a private tutor.

He also served faithfully in the church – first as an interpreter, then as an elder.

Daniel Lee (right) with his pastor, Adam Hing, on a mission trip in 2006.

Over the next three decades, he dedicated himself to travelling around Asia, offering help and hope to communities by sharing his testimony of healing and the love of Christ.

The accident that could have taken his life became the catalyst for a deeper belief in the promises of God.

It affirmed to him, and our family, that nothing is impossible for God.

We, as a family, witnessed firsthand the hand of God and His grace and mercy through my father’s recovery. That strengthened our own faith, too.

40 years later

More than 40 years have passed since the accident that changed our lives.

My father is still with us – healthy, active and a walking testimony of God’s goodness. 

Every morning, he prays for our family and the needs of those around him.

He has seen his children grow into adulthood, finish their education, find stable jobs, and start families of their own.

Having been shaped by the godly influence of our father and mother, my brothers and I followed in our parents’ footsteps by becoming educators, a profession that serves to shape the lives of others positively. 

“My parents’ siblings witnessed my father’s miraculous healing. Some of them accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord,” said the author, pictured on his wedding day with his extended family.

My father still serves in church as an elder.

My two brothers, Gaius and Paul, now serve as associate pastors.

Some of my father’s grandchildren are also serving actively in church in ministries like worship, logistics and serving the needs of the elderly.

Just recently, the author’s parents celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary – another testament of God’s goodness.

God says in Exodus 15:26: “I am the Lord who heals you.”

Our family’s story is a living reminder that even in the darkest moments, God’s power and love is at work.

With church members after a Bible study led by the author (back row, fifth from left).

We have seen His faithfulness through this and other trials, and we have seen how when God blesses a person, others around are blessed, too.

While looking through some old family photos, the Lord prompted me to write this article, so that more people will know of God’s faithfulness and healing grace.

A version of this story first appeared in Stories of Hope.

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