Miracle that kept me alive
Published: May 24, 2006
Ian Dunlop went to Malawi to help save the sick and the starving - but the mercy mission ended with him needing a miracle to stay alive himself. The Ballymoney man contracted a potentially lethal strain of malaria that left him in intensive care for nine days and staring death in the face.
But the 31-year-old made an astonishing recovery, which he attributes to the unstinting faith that had driven him to Africa in the first place.
“The doctors did not expect me to recover,” he says simply.
“In fact, many people have said it was a miracle that I did.”
Ian fell ill on his return from the Dark Continent last Christmas - and as the terrifying illness took hold the news was broken to his family that there was nothing more that could be done for him.
But following an extraordinary prayer effort - involving hundreds of people in 14 countries - he managed to defy all the odds and pull through.
It was in late December last year that Ian fell poorly with what he initally believed was a bad bout of ‘flu. It turned out to be a lot more serious than that.
“I began to feel ill three days after Christmas Day,” he recalls.
“I took a couple of malaria treatments, which you’re advised to do if you’ve spent time in Africa and you feel the ‘flu coming on.
“But the next morning I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. That’s when I knew something was badly wrong.
“Then, at lunchtime, when my face had swollen up and my breathing started to go I knew I was in big trouble.”
Two days later, Ian was lapsing in and out of consciousness and was rushed to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, where they diagnosed plasmodium falciparum - the most serious strain of the disease.
“My temperature spiked and I went delirious,” he says.
“By Sunday, my kidneys were starting to fail. Then, to further complicate matters, I developed pneumonia.”
Just seven days after the first symptoms of the disease appeared, Ian was on a life support machine.
“My family was brought in and the doctors said there was nothing they could do,” he says.
But, against all the odds, Ian clung to life while his family - he has three brothers and two sisters - and friends maintained a prayer vigil at his bedside for nine long days and nights.
“I think God was looking after me. That Saturday was New Year’s Eve,” he recalls.
“Word got out that I was on my death bed and my friends came to the hospital to pray - instead of going to a party.
“They prayed for hours that night, and then came back each day for a week.”
At the same time, prayer meetings were being held in Cheers Youth Centre in Ballymoney, where Ian works as a part-time helper.
“More than 80 people turned up at the first one; even youngsters who’d never been at a prayer meeting in their lives were there,” he says.
“My brother also sent texts telling everyone who knew me that I was ill.
“All in all, people were praying for me in Christian circles in 14 countries throughout the world…”
That he recovered is, of course, a massive relief to his family - but no surprise to Ian, who firmly believes that God intervened to save his life.
“A retired doctor and one of the leaders of my church, John Matthews, prayed over me every day. Another doctor congratulated him afterwards, saying: ‘Whatever you did in there worked.’ He replied that all he had done was pray. He told me it was a miracle.”
Ian adds: “What happened to me has had a good impact on the children I work with. It has made them think about their lives and what they are doing here.”
The speed of Ian’s rehabilitation was almost as remarkable as the recovery itself.
Only days after “nothing more could be done,” the Queen’s University, Belfast, graduate was vigorously exercising in the hospital ward - and happy to be alive.
Now, looking fit and well five months on, he freely admits he believes that not only did God save him, but that there was a divine plan behind his trip to Africa in the first place.
A qualified pharmacist (although he doesn’t practice), Ian’s involvement with Malawi began after a short trip to South Africa in 2003.
“Through organisations like Tearfund and Christian Aid, which help disadvantaged people, I was aware of extreme poverty, but I wanted to see the situation first-hand,” he recalls.
Putting his own recurring health problems aside - Ian has suffered from ME for the last 14 years - he went to South Africa for two weeks under the auspices of Christian organisation Operation Mobilisation (OM).
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