Most little girls dream of having a fairytale life when they get older. Sadly, the “getting older” part doesn’t always get to happen for everyone. One young mom-to-be from Douglasville, Georgia had met the man of her dreams, and was about to start a new family. Yet, just when life couldn’t be more perfect, the universe threw an unexpected wrench in her plans!
At 26-years-old Ashley Hallford found out she was pregnant, but her joy quickly came with disheartening news. Doctors informed Ashley that the new baby she was about to welcome into the world would not have a mother to raise him.
Shortly after giving birth, Ashley’s life was destined to come to a tragic end. That is, until a powerful force – one that even the universe couldn’t contend with – decided to step in.
It all started a month into her pregnancy, when Ashley felt a hard knot on the back of her head. She didn’t think it was anything serious, and simply ignored it.
“I actually discovered (the knot) right before I got pregnant. But I wrote it off to be a lymph node because it didn’t really hurt.”
When the pain got worse, Ashley went to see a specialist, who thought it might be an infection of the salivary gland. She took some medication, which made the lump shrink. A repeated cycle of “medication and recovery” seemed to help, until one day it no longer worked.
In fact, just the opposite started to happen. When Ashley was 32 weeks into her pregnancy, the lump kept getting bigger, and bigger!
Concerned that it might be cancer, she had the doctors perform a biopsy on the mass. That’s when her worst fears were realized!
“Pathologists from all over the country studied the lump. They all agreed that it was a rare and very aggressive, possibly hormonally fueled cancer. But nobody could diagnose it.”
Ashley was induced early at 33 weeks, so that she could begin lifesaving treatment.
“We were preparing for our son to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit, but when he was born, he didn’t have to. He got to go home two days later. The NICU doctor came in to see us, and he said that never in his career had he seen a 33-week-term baby not go to the NICU, even for evaluation. That was just a miracle.”
Surely this miraculous news was a sign of better things to come? Well, not quite… Ashley’s situation actually got worse.
It turns out that this poor mother’s body was now riddled with cancer. Ashley had an inoperable mass in her brain, and a full body scan revealed that the cancer had traveled to both of her lungs, and her liver. Tragically, she was given just 4 weeks to live.
Aggressive chemo and radiation treatment did absolutely nothing, and the cancer spread even further. By then, Ashley’s cancer had reached stage 4, which is the very last stage of this horrible disease.
Doctors could do nothing more for the new mother. She was told to get her affairs in order, and make lots of video diaries for her baby son.
In other words, they sent Ashley home to die.
That’s when Ashley turned to the most powerful healing energy in the universe – prayer. When her whole church started to pray with her, that’s when the true miracle started to happen.
“At my church, they started praying and fasting, for the whole month. I was praying because if there was no change or things were worse, I would be out of options.”
When Ashley went in for her next medical scan, she was left speechless by the results.
Seven months after Ashley was told she was going to die, she was still alive. Her cancer had gone into remission, all on its own. Medical oncologist Debra Miller couldn’t believe it!
“Theoretically, with stage 4 cancer, you’re not curable. I met Ashley when she was pregnant, when she had the neck mass. After her first round of treatment, more disease was found in her lungs, and she was retreated. After that, she’s been disease free … it’s nothing short of miraculous.”
Ashley credits her recovery 100% to God. And it’s no wonder!
“I always had strong faith, but we’re only human. I still worried while I was sick. Part of me held onto it and worried, and another part of me gave it to God.”
The joyful mother has now been in remission for nine years. Amazingly enough, the miracles didn’t end when her cancer went away!
Ashley was told by fertility doctors that due to the lifetime maximum dosage of radiation she had received, she would not be able to conceive – she was basically menopausal.
Until she wasn’t.
The doctors were repeatedly proven wrong. That’s because Ashley went on to have two more children!
Watch the video below to see Ashley tell her story firsthand.
Sometimes you just need a little bit of spiritual medicine to start you onto the path of healing. There are just no words for this. Ashley’s story is truly miraculous!
Sources: 11 Alive, YouTube/adhallford, FB Image Credit: YouTube/adhallford