Hope in life and death

While my husband was dying, we both found God

As Louise and George Blyth processed the devastating news that his cancer had spread, it led them both on a miraculous journey of discovering faith

Back in 2015, Louise Blyth and her husband George were an ordinary couple in their thirties with two young sons, living their lives with no interest in God or religion of any kind.

Everything changed when they found out that George had bowel cancer. He was determined to get better so, to begin with, their hope lay ‘in medicine, in treatment, in life itself’. But, after almost a year of chemotherapy, radiation and even having part of his liver cut out, the cancer grew back.

When they both realised that George was not going to survive, the horror of not having anything left to hope in devastated them both. Louise describes what happened: ‘He was in so much physical pain and it was really hard to witness it and not be able to do anything at all to help him. But there was something in me that was just so disbelieving that this was what the end of George’s life would be. That’s what led me to cry out and say to God, even though I didn’t believe in him, “Where the hell are you? Who are you? Where are you? And if you’re real, show me”.’

A miraculous connection

The very same day that Louise railed at God, she got a text from a friend who had been to a wedding a few days before. While there, she had met a woman, Brianna, who explained that God had told her the friend knew someone who was very ill. They chatted, Brianna prayed for George and indicated she was happy to be in contact with Louise.

Louise had been getting all sorts of offers via text – including reiki, crystals and other forms of healing, and comments: ‘I was open to everything.’ So Brianna and Louise began texting one another.

By this point, George’s health had declined rapidly and he ended up back in hospital for what would be the last time. The first week he was there was horrendous as the pain grew more intense, he couldn’t sleep and was gripped by fear.

Brianna offered to visit George in hospital to pray, which Louise says: ‘Still blows my mind. She lived in London so got on a train and came to Nottingham for an hour to sit with us and pray.’

Louise didn’t really believe in prayer at the time but had said: ‘We’ll try it – we’ll give it a whirl. During the prayer time, there had been a moment in which he’d opened his eyes and seemed to be more at peace.’

Mind-blowing peace

The next day when Louise walked through the door into George’s hospital room, she could sense something was different. ‘It felt peaceful. It felt hope-filled.’

Louise asked George what had happened, and he said: ‘It’s all gone. All the pain, all the fear, all of the hurt; I’m just full of love.’ Taken aback by the sudden change in her husband, Louise went to the nurses’ station to ask what medication he had been given that day – only to find he had had nothing.

Louise says: ‘The nurse looked at me and said, “I think he’s just found peace.” And it was at that moment when I got goosebumps all over my body. I went back to the room, and literally fell down on my knees.’

Louise didn’t know how to pray, but just kept saying thank you. From that point, she felt that God might be real and had the urge to talk to him. Louise began writing prayers to God on her phone…and he answered: ‘Each time I prayed, I got a text from Brianna, who didn’t know that I was writing prayers in the notes on my phone. Literally the moment I pressed “done” on my iPhone, I’d get a text. She told me what God was saying to me.’

Facing the end without fear

After George’s dramatic encounter with God, his final week on earth was one filled with peace. He knew he was going to die, but was no longer afraid. Louise says: ‘He was so full of joy and lightness and calmness. And he knew from the moment the encounter had happened, that he was going to die on the Friday.’

George had decided that he wanted to die alone, so on the Thursday evening they tucked him into bed, said goodbye, and George died at 12.30 on the Friday morning.

Finding hope

To the many people who don’t understand how she can be at peace, Louise has this to say: ‘We all have to die; that’s the only certainty of being human. What we were given was so much better than George’s physical healing…we did get the miracle, because all of the pain, all of the hurt, all of the horror was taken away. And it was replaced with love, light, peace and hope.’

Even though she had lost George, Louise says: ‘I gained this relationship, this spiritual connection and relationship of faith that was unshakable, because I had seen a glimpse – it was like someone had opened a door to heaven and I’d had a little waft of it. So I had to hold on to that.’

During George’s final week, Louise had told him that she felt she needed to write down their incredible experiences to share with others, so that they too may find the hope, peace and relationship with God that they have found. Her book Hope is Coming is available now.