I was dead for a week, had nine operations – Patience Jonathan

Recounting her experience on the hospital bed last year, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan has revealed that she was dead for a week  and is lucky to be alive.

 She was hospitalized for several weeks in Germany last year and also went for medical check-up early this year.

Speaking at a special Church thanksgiving service on Sunday, she said that she underwent eight to nine surgery operations within a month during her illness last year.

Likening her experience to that of the Biblical Lazarus, she expressed gratitude to God for sending her back as she rededicated herself to doing things that will touch the lives of the less privilege in the society.

She said: “I remember when Chief Obasanjo was the President of the country, I was close to his late wife, Stella. We worshipped together in this chapel. It was a painful moment for me that time when she died and her corpse was brought here.”

“That was how my corpse would have been brought here. It was not an easy experience for me. I actually died, I passed out for more than a week. My intestine and tummy were opened.

“I am not Lazarus but my experience was similar to his. My doctors said all hope was lost. A black doctor in London who is with us in this service was flown in when the situation became critical. It was God himself in His infinite mercy that said I will return to Nigeria. God woke me up after seven days.

“I know that some people somehow leaked the information that I was dead.  They are people that I trust and rely on; to them, I was dead and I would never return to the country alive. Some of them even sold my things off.

“I won’t say everything here. It is the Lord’s doing that I returned alive. When God says yes, nobody can say no.

“People are always afraid of operation (surgery) but in my own case, while my travail lasted, I was begging for it (surgery) after the third operation because I was going to the theatre everyday.

It was God who saw me through. I did eight or nine operations within one month. It was not an easy one. The day I came back, I said God I have nothing to say, I offer myself to you. I will be doing things that will touch the lives of the less privilege.

“God gave me second chance because I reached there. He knew I have not completed the assignments He gave me, that was why I was sent back,” the first lady recounted.