My name is Nohad, spouse of Semaan el-Chamy, from Mezarib, Jbeil. I am 55 years old. I have 12 children (7 sons and 5 daughters). On the evening of the 9th of January 1993, I suffered from a left hemiplegia, affecting my leg, my arm and my mouth. Thus, I entered Saint Maritime Hospital in Jbeil.

Dr. Joseph Chamy, a cardiologist, received me and referred me to the Intensive Care Unit and to Dr. Antoine Nachakian and Dr. Majid Chamy, my family doctor. After many consultations, X-rays and medical tests, they deduced that the hemiplegia was due to the obstruction of 80% of the left-brain arteries and 70% of the right ones. “In this case, no treatment can cure you. Nevertheless, we still have the possibility to perform later a surgery and replace the obstructed arteries by plastic ones,” said the doctor. They advised me to go home and come back to Hotel Dieu Hospital within three months for new X-rays.

So, my eldest son, Saad, went to Annaya and brought me consecrated oil and soil from Saint Charbel’s tomb. When my daughter applied them on my body, I felt tingles in my hand and my foot. I left the hospital after staying there for 9 days.

At home, I couldn’t leave my bed. My husband had to help me go to the bathroom, and my children had to give me food and water through a straw. This is how I spent the next three days after leaving the hospital. While I was sleeping, I saw myself going up the stairs of the hermitage in Annaya and attending the mass in the presence of monks. During this mass, Saint Charbel was giving me the communion. (more…)