It started with flu-like symptoms in November 2022. Then came the stomachache.

At first, Rev Paul Tan thought it was simply something he ate that did not agree with him.

Then came the fever which burnt hotter and hotter, reaching 41 degrees Celsius at one point. Convulsions followed. When it “became very bad” after two days, Rev Tan dragged himself to the general practitioner.

Rev Tan was ordained as an Anglican minister in 1991. He retired nine years ago and has been an auxiliary priest at St George’s Church in the last five years.

“He saw me walking with difficulty and said to go straight away to the A&E,” said Rev Tan, 69, an auxiliary priest at St George’s Church.   

But the hospital sent him home, declaring that there was “no bacteria” in his blood test.

At home, Rev Tan only got sicker. Over the next few days, the high fever persisted, the shaking intensified and he could not keep food down. He became severely dehydrated and began hallucinating.

Worse symptoms were to follow.

“I was flat out on the bed, immobilised. I couldn’t move. There was pain from my waist to my toes. Everywhere I turned, there was pain.”

When he could not pass urine properly and there was blood in his urine, his wife Maureen called for an ambulance.

“On the way to the hospital, I was in so much pain they needed to give me extra cushions to support me.”

Infections all around

To resolve the most immediate problem of urinary retention, the doctor inserted a catheter. When Rev Tan’s bladder was drained, they found pus in his urine.

Tests were run and soon a diagnosis emerged. Bacteria had entered his bloodstream. The strain of bacteria was a common one usually responsible for causing pneumonia. But the doctor did not know how it ended up in the blood.

More tests ensued to check his eyes, brain, heart and kidneys to see if the bacteria had infected any of the organs. His eyes and brain were fine, but they found that he had suffered a mild heart attack and there was pus in his kidneys.

In addition, the terrible pain that radiated from his back down his legs was the result of the bacteria attacking his spinal cord and causing two large nerves in the area to swell and press against his spine.

Divine interventions

The situation was dire but at several points, Rev Tan saw God’s intervention.

First, he managed to avoid surgery to his spine. The doctors had called his family in early one morning for an emergency meeting. The plan had been to operate on Rev Tan for fear that further compression on his spine would cause permanent paralysis.

But when the Head of the orthopaedic department reviewed the situation, he prescribed antibiotics instead. For five months, Rev Tan was on antibiotics, at first administered intravenously and then via daily pills.

Next, Rev Tan discovered that one of the doctors caring for him was someone he and his wife knew when she was a little girl.

“Many years ago, we were running a dormitory in Singapore for children of missionaries. She stayed with us and now she is a consultant in Internal Medicine.”

The ties they developed years ago allowed Maureen to get regular updates of Rev Tan’s condition so the church, and their relatives and friends could pray for him.

Another divine “coincidence” happened when a lung specialist happened to be walking by while Rev Tan’s doctor was discussing his case with a colleague. When the specialist heard about his symptoms, he immediately asked for Rev Tan’s lungs to be checked.

“That’s how they found a patch of pus floating above my lungs. They wouldn’t have suspected anything otherwise because none of the MRI scans checked the lungs.”

The discovery allowed the doctors to drain the pus by inserting a tube into Rev Tan’s body and suctioning out the pus. The tube remained in Rev Tan for a whole month, which was how long it took to drain everything away. Had that condition been left untreated, it would have led to septicemia and then death.

“Forgive me, a sinner”

During the long days and nights when he was laid up in the hospital, unable to move, stricken with a raging fever, and connected to various tubes – to drain urine and pus above his lungs, and to administer antibiotics to reduce the infection in his spine – Rev Tan prayed.

He did not ask God for healing. He did not ask God why he was suffering.

Rev Tan about to be discharged after 75 days in the hospital.

“I was repenting. I told God, ‘I am a sinner and I need Your help, please. Forgive me, please. Have mercy on me.’”

Asked if, at any point then, he was afraid of dying, Rev Tan said: “My wife and I both came to a point where we said, ‘Well, I have done whatever I can for God in this life. If this is the time for us to say goodbye, I’m ready, we’re ready.’

“That’s why we didn’t ask, ‘Why?’”

He did wonder, though, given the severity of his condition, if he would emerge healthy and whole.

“God gave me assurance. A lot of times when I am alone, encouragement comes through worship music because that is what I have to occupy my time.”  

“Just As I Am” by Fernando Ortega and “Rescue” by Lauren Daigle were two songs that spoke to him the most.

“It was like sending out an SOS to God.”

Prayers and encouragement all around

Maureen was the earthly pillar of support that saw Rev Tan through “the worst sickness” he had ever had. Rev Tan spent a month and a half at the acute hospital and another month at a rehabilitation hospital learning to walk again. Through the time he was in the acute hospital, Maureen was by his side. 

Rev Tan with his wife Maureen (second from right) who was his pillar of strength and prayer warrior during his illness.

“She never went home. She would pray for me and give the church updates of my condition. I thank God for her faith that carried me through.”

Friends and church members also stood by Rev Tan. Even though he could barely sit up, he was cheered by their visits and the food, prayers and words of encouragement that they brought with them.

When a member of the church found out that Rev Tan’s haemoglobin levels were low, she brought him a steak. His church even organised a Zoom prayer meeting to intercede for him.

The ordeal left Rev Tan 10kg lighter. He continued to have lingering pain in his back, weakness on his left side and numbness in his toes.

Having been healed, Rev Tan is determined to continue serving God for the rest of his life.

“There is a permanent scar in the spine so there is stiffness that causes backaches in certain positions.

“The nerves on my left side have not fully grown back so there is a weakness in my left leg. I can walk but if I am suddenly pushed, I will topple.”

But all these are minor side effects as far as Rev Tan is concerned.

“Now I realise God’s sovereignty and God’s plan, that no matter how, God is still in charge.

“And since I have been given time, I can give glory to God.”

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