Former national player recalls how God healed a hole in his heart

The Graham was only 12 years old at the time when his mother took him to the doctor for a routine check, which later confirmed that he had a hole in his heart, better known in the medical field as atrial septal defect (ASD).

He was old enough to understand what was at stake. The discovery left him traumatised at the time. Graham grew up in Catholicism but his family was by and large agnostics. But at age 16, Graham committed his life to Christ following several visits to a Pentecostal church in Kingston upon the invitation of his close friend John Muirhead.

“This year makes 28 years since God heard the angry and frustrated cry of this agnostic youth. Tired of the numerous doctor visits and the many suggested (sic) and taken natural and synthetic medications. Which didn't work but the Lord intervened, in a way that not only changed my life forever but completely healed me from a surgery-free heart condition called, Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) aka a hole in the heart,” Graham wrote on his Facebook timeline on Boxing Day last year.

“I was 12 years old at the time when I went for a routine check to my paediatrician. She's one of the most thorough and honest professionals’ nevertheless I still received disappointing news that after taking the prescribed drugs with the suggested exercises and rest, the hole in my heart remained. I felt like giving up all hope of what was considered, a 'normal' childhood.

“As soon as I got home, I went into my room, locked the door and at the height of my frustration, I shouted at the top of my voice, ‘God! If you were ever real you would never let me be born with a hole in my heart!’

“That day, I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up I didn't felt like anything miraculous had happened but when I went back to my doctor, she reported in amazement, that the ultrasound tests showed I no longer had a hole in my heart.”

Graham, the winner of many local and regional badminton titles at the turn of the millennium was not fully out of the woods, however.

“What many people don’t know was, all those years I was playing local and international competitive badminton for Jamaica, I continued to have irregular heartbeats until I was 24 years old, but in that same year, the Lord intervened again and removed it,” added the 40-year-old who now juggles coaching the Calabar High School badminton team with his full time work as a freelance graphic designer and professional photographer.

This had a huge impact in how Graham trained and managed matches. But his faith in Christ remained unflinching. 

“I don't think I would be here today if I didn't cry out to the Lord for healing. Which confirms that my miracle didn't rest on my spending but was received through my supplication. Whatever you’ve been knowingly or unknowingly facing this year, it has an expiration date when you confront whatever symptom, ‘giant’ or ‘mountain’ the enemy has been using as a barrier to your breakthrough, healing or wholeness,” he said.

“With the way how things are unfolding in the world now, I urge you to strengthen your prayer with fasting and watch the Lord fight for you. Your future is listening for your testimony of victory before it prepares your promotion, act now!”

Editor’s Note: Have a testimony to share? Email to editorial@oldharbournews.com