Prayer Steps in When Doctors Give Little Hope

“The pain that I felt was so sharp and so sudden that it felt like I had been shot in the chest,” remembers LaTroy Dixon.

He was at work when the chest pains started. At home later that night, the pain had gotten worse, and he drove himself to the ER. Tests showed he had an aortic dissection – a tear in the main artery that carries blood from the heart – that was causing massive internal bleeding. 

LaTroy, a nurse’s aide, knew it could be fatal. He says, “I knew by this point, I was in a lot of trouble. Then I began to appeal to God. 'Cause I thought I was gonna die. I really did. ‘God, just don't let me die like this.’”

LaTroy got word out to relatives and told them he was scheduled for surgery the next morning. As soon as his aunt Sharon heard, she went to the hospital, praying the whole way.

She explains, “That was the scariest thing to me in my life to see him like that. ‘Cause this was always this strong guy that prayed over everybody.”

The next morning just before the surgery, LaTroy’s younger brother, Tremayne, arrived. “I was terrified,” Tremayne says, “to see him laying on that bed with all those cords. It was – it was tough. This is my brother. He-he has to make it. You don't understand. He cannot not make it. He has to make it.”

Doctors told the family to be prepared for the worst. Half the people who experience this condition don’t live more than forty-eight hours. In fact, doctors were shocked LaTroy was able to get himself to the hospital before having a stroke.

Tremayne says, “Based on what they were saying, I'll be honest, I had some doubts. Not so much in what Christ could do. More of, ‘This could be it.’ I just kind of had to give it over to Him, but that was tough.”

It took doctors twelve hours to repair the torn artery. During the procedure, LaTroy had a stroke, which complicated his condition even further. LaTroy’s life was still in danger, and doctors put him in a medically induced coma. They told the family that if he survives, he might be permanently disabled, unable to walk or even talk.

“They're saying that it's very possible ‘He can wake up. He just won't be that LaTroy,’" Tremayne remembers. “That's the part that I feared the most, cause I need "him" back. Me and God tuggled with that part. I'm saying, ‘Lord, I want him back this way.’”

Sharon says, “Everything is done on God's time. It's His will. So it's the only thing we could do, but pray for God to have His will, and not give up.”

Finally, his family could see him. For Sharon, “The hardest moment was seeing him laying on his back, and his chest going up and down. He didn’t look like my nephew. I-I tried to stand there…I can see him right now. It was scary. It was scary. And I tried not to show fear because I wanted to be the strong one. But it was hard.”

In the following days it became clear LaTroy would live. Meanwhile, other relatives, friends, and church members gathered at the hospital, joining in prayer for LaTroy’s complete healing.

“There's nothing else to do,” Tremayne says, “but talk to God. Thank God for the deliverance. And thank God for being the Almighty. That’s all we had to do.”

Eight days after his surgery, LaTroy was brought out of the coma. The stroke had left him paralyzed on his right side. Then LaTroy, who’s also a pastor, realized something else was wrong.

He explains, “It’s a scary feeling to open your mouth to say something, and literally nothing came out.” LaTroy continues, “I was asking God, ‘What happened? Like what's going on? Why did this happen? Why?’ He just communicated…He communicated ‘trust’ to me. ‘Trust.’”

With LaTroy now in rehab re-learning how to walk and talk, the prayers continued. Sharon says, “We know prayer changes things. First of all we know that. And we would pray that he would get better. And we could see progress. It was little. It wasn't a whole lot. Just a little bit. But we, you know, we trust God.” 

After three weeks, they knew God had answered their prayers.

Temayne says, “As he started to do things normally, that's when God started to show me that he's gonna be okay.”

Sharon adds, “I remember coming up there and him saying that he wanted chicken. He started talking about food he wanted. I said, ‘Oh, yeah. I know you getting better now. You're talking about food.’”

After another two weeks in rehab, LaTroy walked out of the hospital on his own.

Now back at work, LaTroy has regained full mobility and has had no complications. He and his family are thankful for the care he received, and for the prayers they believe were key to his survival and complete recovery.

“I've seen God do miraculous things with prayer,” LaTroy says, “My story is-is one of them.”

Sharon says, “He is a miracle. He's a walking miracle. I want people to know that anything you go through, nothing is too tough for God.”

For Tremayne, “The power of God is just – it's-it's amazing. I'm-I'm at a point where…God can do anything.”

“This is what He does,” LaTroy adds. “This is the work that He does. He's accessible if we reach out to Him. He's not lying when He says, ‘I'm a very present help in the time of trouble.’ Like, that's not a lie.”