Shannan’s Miracle

It was a warm April evening in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shannan had spent the day at school and rugby practice and was now settling into bed for the night. Suddenly, around 11:00, he realized that something was wrong. He couldn’t talk and he couldn’t move the right side of his body.

                Shannan was fifteen years old. He attended Wesley College in Colombo Sri Lanka, where he had been born and lived most of his life. He was a talented leader both in school and in sports. In 2017, he had been made captain of the rugby team and he was gifted in his studies too.

                Shannan had been raised in a Christian home. His father was and is a Pastor in the Christian Reformed Church in Sri Lanka. Shannan would have called himself a Christian as a young teenager. He believed in God, but when he reflects honestly now, his Christian life was pretty bad. He dodged chapels at school and wasn’t in regular practice of key spiritual disciplines. But God had plans for Shannan, plans that would involve something very difficult but would result in a stronger and deeper faith.

                On April 3, 2017, just shortly after he had been made captain of the rugby team, Shannan’s life changed significantly. Like any normal Tuesday, Shannan had been at school and rugby practice. He had come home, eaten dinner, and then went to bed. Another day of school was ahead tomorrow, and he needed to get some sleep.

                It was around 11:00 that night when Shannan went to bed. It didn’t take long before he realized that something wasn’t right. He didn’t want to worry his family, so when they, sensing something wasn’t right, asked him if he was okay, he nodded. But he knew that it was a lie: he couldn’t speak. He reached for a textbook from the shelf next to his bed and tried to turn the pages, but he couldn’t. His brother turned off the light and Shannan tried to go to sleep but he couldn’t. His head felt like it was burning inside and he was dizzy. He wanted water.

                At that moment his dad passed by the door and poked his head in. He could tell that something was wrong and asked again in Shannan was okay. This time Shannan shook his head. His dad asked him to stand up. Shannan shook his head, signaling that he could not. He couldn’t speak at all. His dad and brother picked him up out of bed. The first thing they did was to lay their hands on his head and pray for him.

                Shannan’s dad took him to the private hospital. It was late at night and normally there aren’t specialist doctors there at that time. But according to God’s providence, there was a neurosurgeon there…just the person needed to help Shannan. The hospital performed a CT scan on Shannan and found a dark spot in his brain. He had had a stroke, which was why he lost mobility in his right side. The doctors didn’t think there was much they could do for him. They suggested an injection that would not cure him but would save his life. But it was too expensive. Shannan’s dad asked if he could be transferred to the general hospital because it would save money. Normally, the general hospital would put all patients into a common ward, and Shannan would have had to wait even longer to get diagnosed and treated. But because of a family connection with the neurosurgeon who just happened to be on duty at the private hospital, Shannan got transferred to the correct ward at the general hospital that night.

                It was about two o’clock in the morning when Shannan arrived at the general hospital. The overnight shift was mostly student doctors who didn’t have the authority to administer the injection that Shannan needed without the head doctor. The head doctor said he would be there at eight in the morning. In the meantime, Shannan was intubated and given asprin. One of the student doctors said to Shannan: “Well, son, you’ll be okay in four or five years.”

                At this point, Shannan’s dad walked out of the room to make some phone calls to friends and family and ask them to pray. His brother was in the room with him, continuously asking questions. They all knew that if Shannan was able to verbally respond in any way, his chances of surviving and recovering were higher. At the same time, everyone was trying to figure out why this had happened. What had caused the stroke? Eventually they figured out that Shannan had a hole in his heart, and that had caused a clot to go his brain, bringing on the stroke.

                At three o’clock in the morning, Shannan was able to move his right arm a little bit. Excited, his brother ran out of the room to call his dad. When they returned, Shannan was able to lift his right leg about six inches and move his fingers. By the time the head doctor arrived at the hospital, he was able to move his arm and leg a little bit more and make some sounds, though not speak words yet.

                God’s providence showed up again here. Shannan stayed at the hospital for five days. It was during this time that they found the hole in his heart and knew they needed to operate on it. He was given a surgery date eight months out. But, because of a family connection to a nurse, he was able to get a surgery date for July instead. By the time his surgery took place (July 5) he was completely healed from the effects of the stroke.

                God had performed a miracle in Shannan’s life.

                Over the next four years, Shannan has continued in school. He has had other sports injuries over the years, but has kept playing on the rugby team. In 2018, he was able to represent his school’s U20 rugby team…a huge achievement. Another huge achievement was in 2020, when he was made head prefect of Wesley college. Today, he is preparing to hopefully come to the States to pursue his higher education in Kinesiology, with the goal of becoming a personal fitness and sports trainer. Shannan became a good friend of mine over the last four months that I spent in Sri Lanka, and it has been an honor to write his story.

                Shannan said that the biggest spiritual impact this whole thing had on his life was that it humbled him and caused him to see the many ways God blessed him. He continues to see countless blessings in his life. He continues to see the work of God in his life. This episode made God real for him, made his faith stronger, and made him desire to seek more wholeheartedly after God. “I did nothing,” he said, “but God has done something in my life.”