In late February last year, retired electrical engineer Sunny Yap had two stents implanted to open the clogged arteries in his heart.

The surgery was successful and procedures went smoothly. He and his wife, Chu Yeok Ming, went back to their daily routine of taking a walk every morning.

Suddenly, he could not walk or eat

Two weeks after his surgery, however, Sunny found that he could no longer walk well as his muscles appeared to be getting weaker.

“Over the next few months, my body got progressively weaker. I started to have difficulty brushing my teeth, bathing, chewing and even swallowing my food,” said Sunny, now 74.

In late June, he saw a neurologist, who immediately admitted him to hospital. But the diagnosis was unclear. He was then referred to a cardiologist, who diagnosed Sunny with cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood well. But the cause of Sunny’s overall muscle weakness was still a mystery. 

“From this point on, I began to lose awareness of what was happening to me,” Sunny recalled.

On July 2, his son-in-law noticed that he was unresponsive and had a blank stare. The respiratory doctor was called in and the family discovered that Sunny was hardly breathing.

“The doctor found out that the carbon dioxide levels in his lungs was 63%. His lungs were failing and they rushed him to the ICU,” said Yeok Ming, 67. 

Sunny was admitted to ICU on July 2, 2024, where he was intubated and put on a ventilator.

The doctors told her that if her husband was not put on a ventilator, he would die.

“I struggled and gathered my family members to pray. We had to make a very quick decision and I gave the go-ahead,” said Yeok Ming.

Three days later, Sunny was taken off the ventilator in a bid to see if he could breathe on his own. But his condition deteriorated and he vomited out the contents of what he was being fed via a nasogastric tube. His left lung became infected with five different types of bacteria which also entered his bloodstream.

“Aspiration pneumonia and septicaemia (bacteria in the blood) could be fatal. But thank God for His mercy, Sunny didn’t die,” Yeok Ming told Salt&Light.

Instead, he was put back on the ventilator. The nasogastric tube feeding was discontinued and he was fed intravenously.

On her knees

Meanwhile, Yeok Ming had been on her knees every day as she sought God’s healing for her husband and His wisdom to make critical medical decisions.

“Our family prayed for his healing. Our church leaders, cell group members and friends interceded for him. But instead of getting better, his condition worsened,” said Yeok Ming, whose family worships at Paya Lebar Methodist Church, where she serves as a cell group cluster leader.

Church friends rallied around the family to pray over Sunny while he was in ICU.

On July 23, the doctor extubated Sunny and put him on oxygen to see if he could breathe on his own. Altogether, he was intubated and extubated three times in the ICU.

The doctors asked Yeok Ming for her consent to do a tracheostomy urgently. That entailed opening a hole in his neck so that he could be plugged on to the ventilator when necessary.

“Every day, I felt pressured to make a decision. I was worried that long-term intubation might damage his windpipe,” she said.

Facing this barrage of bad news, Yeok Ming was confused and despondent. She knew she needed to hear clearly from God on how to navigate the life-threatening crisis.

“Sunny had already had so many invasive procedures done on him. Opening a hole in his throat meant more suffering for him and a higher risk of infection. I couldn’t bear to see him suffer anymore,” said Yeok Ming.

Two blinks 

The family prayed for God’s guidance on whether to proceed with the tracheostomy, and felt peace from God to turn down the procedure.

As Sunny could not speak, her son-in-law suggested seeking his decision through the blinking of his eyes: One blink for “Yes” and two blinks for “No”.

Sunny blinked twice, and his family had the confirmation they needed not to proceed with the procedure.

On July 24, Sunny finally received an accurate diagnosis from his neurologist after results from the lab tests came back. Sunny  had myasthenia gravis, a chronic neuromuscular disorder where antibodies attack normal receptors on muscle, destroying the communication between nerves and muscles, resulting in muscle weakness.

Sunny and Yeok Ming, pictured with one of their cell groups, serve as cluster leaders in Paya Lebar Methodist Church.

Shortly afterwards, Sunny’s condition stabilised and he was weaned off the ventilator and transferred to a normal ward.

He was recovering slowly – able to talk with slurred speech but unable to sit up on his own yet.

Sunny appeared to be recovering. But on August 5, Yeok Ming received a call at 3:13am from the hospital.

Sunny’s nasogastric tube had dislodged. The milk he was being fed continually through the nasogastric tube – regulated by a pump – went into his lungs. Once again, his lungs developed pneumonia and he was put on oxygen and heavy doses of antibiotics.

When she heard the dreadful news, Yeok Ming went on her knees to the Lord.

As she cried out to God for her husband’s healing, she asked Him: “Lord, can You tell me what is happening?”

She heard a still, small voice echoing through her mind: “Surrender.”

“Surrender? Surrender means my husband will die?” she asked Him silently in her heart.

The same quiet voice replied: “Will you still love Me even if you don’t see a miracle?”

With tears streaming down her face, Yeok Ming did not hesitate to answer God.

“Will you surrender?”

Praying aloud in the wee hours of the morning, Yeok Ming said: “Lord, I will surrender. I will still love You because You’re good. How could I not love You – You who have been faithful to me and my family all the days of my life.”

At that moment, she recalled how more than 30 years ago her eldest daughter had had a brain haemorrhage when an abnormal vein in her brain ruptured. She went into a coma and was given a 50% chance of survival. After the brain surgery, she was paralysed on her right side. But God had healed her miraculously. Today, she is healthy, mobile and has her own family.

“I surrender Sunny to You, but I will continue to pray for him,” Yeok Ming told God.

She remembered how King David did not give up in praying and pleading with God for the life of the son that he had had with Bathsheba.

“If he dies, he dies. Give me the grace and strength to let go. But I will still stand on Your promises in Your Word. And if he doesn’t die, I will give You the glory,” she said to God.

The doctor had told Yeok Ming that Sunny’s prognosis was poor. He might never walk again or breathe on his own, and he might need to be cared for in a nursing home with a ventilator to assist with breathing.

“Medically, I cannot deny the facts. But I have a God greater than that. So I prayed,” said Yeok Ming.

A turning point 

Her surrender to God marked a pivotal turning point, after which she saw God work miraculously.

Sunny not only did not die that night, his condition stabilised so well that he was taken off the ventilator. Two days after she received the fateful 3:13am call from the hospital, he was transferred back to the normal ward.

Initially, Sunny was weak and spoke faintly. His voice sounded as though he had stones or wood in his mouth, said Yeok Ming.

But one morning a week later, Sunny greeted the doctor.

“Good morning, doctor!” Sunny said as the doctor walked into the room.

“You are speaking to me?” the doctor said with surprise.

“Your voice is in the right pitch and crystal clear. You are back to normal!” he told Sunny with amazement.

Despite the poor prognosis, Sunny’s voice and speech miraculously returned to normal.

The return of Sunny’s voice marked the beginning of a miraculous path of exponential healing.

He started being able to swallow pureed food and bread, and could stand with assistance. By the time he was discharged one month later on September 7, 2024, he could eat normally, brush his teeth, wash his face and walk with a walking stick.

Sunny’s condition improved to the point that he was able to go on a soft diet.

Sunny is now able to drive again.

One week after his discharge, his GP certified him medically fit to drive again.

“My respiratory doctor, the cardiologist and the neurologist were amazed at my recovery,” Sunny related. “They said it was beyond their expectations as, medically speaking, it was not possible for me to recover so fast.

“One of them said my case has challenged his faith,” added Sunny, who also had intense physiotherapy during his recovery phase.

Sunny could travel to Perth, Australia on October 16, 2024, shortly after his recovery.

God fulfilled Sunny’s desire to see the tulips in Netherlands in April this year.

Today, Sunny has regained his mobility and health. The couple was able to travel to Perth in October last year to attend their niece’s wedding. This year, they travelled with family to the Netherlands, a trip previously cancelled when Sunny fell ill.

Yeok Ming has learnt through this health crisis the power of community.

“Remember that you have a church family who can intercede for you. It was the prayers of all our brothers and sisters in Christ that sustained me and my family through this difficult tsunami,” said Yeok Ming.

The church friends who tirelessly interceded for Sunny during the ordeal.

When asked how would she have responded if Sunny had died, she said: “It would not have changed my conviction that God is good and He is faithful.

“I would have been very sad and missed Sunny. But I would have asked God for the grace and strength to be able to live without him.”

Sunny celebrating Christmas with his family last year.

She acknowledged that it is a tough journey when families are waiting for their loved ones to be healed.

“Persevere in prayers and stand on God’s promises and Word to anchor your soul,” she urged. “Be vulnerable with God and share your fears, thoughts and emotions with Him.”

“Cling to hope and not give up,” added Sunny.

“God is our God of hope. Ask Him to fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.”

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