As an officers’ kid, David Boone grew up in a home with Christ at the forefront. He always had a strong faith. But it wasn’t until a serious health crisis left him hospitalized for more than nine months, his family fearing every day for his life, that he witnessed the divine power of prayer.

In moments of desperation, David’s wife, Sandra, and their children would pray. Their church family at The Salvation Army in St. Catharines, Ont., stood with them in prayer, too.

“I should have died, really,” says David. “Doctors have told me that they can’t believe I’m still here. But sometimes there just aren’t answers. Prayer works.”

Life-Changing News

In August 2023, after feeling generally unwell for a few months, David was admitted to the hospital in St. Catharines with a serious infection affecting most of his body. After less than a week, he was sent home, believed to be on the mend. But a few months later in December, he woke up with severe pain in his back and couldn’t move.

David and Sandra’s daughter-in-law, Kristen, who is a nurse, strongly urged him to go back to the hospital. She recognized this as something very serious. 

They soon learned that his previous infection, left unattended, had become septic and David was in heart failure. He required immediate emergency surgery—a heart valve replacement on an otherwise healthy heart.

The news was shocking. The diagnosis was unexpected and difficult to process, and for a while, David was hesitant to share what he was going through. But right before he went into surgery, he and Sandra agreed to tell their church family and ask for prayer. They asked Major Donald Feltham, their corps officer, to share the news.

“I needed prayers then, and I’ve needed them ever since,” says David.

The surgery was successful and though the infection was still in his system, he was discharged within a few days. “I thought, Great. In a few weeks he’ll get stronger and life will return to normal,” says Sandra.

But the hope was short lived. Within two weeks, Kristen urged David to go back to the hospital, where he learned that the infection, and the medications he was on, were affecting most of his major organs and he was in poor condition.

Power of Prayer

During his time in the hospital, David’s son, David Jr., put together a family Bible study to help keep the family hopeful and focused on Jesus. At the end of each lesson, they recorded what they learned on a white board in David’s hospital room.

1. This is temporary.
2. Run to God.
3. Be patient.

“So many times, I read those reminders out loud to David as he struggled,” says Sandra.

But things kept seeming to go wrong, and his condition continued to decline. David ended up with an infection in his blood from the hospital tubes, and he was sent to the intensive care unit (ICU) where he spent five months.

“At this point, I had to take things one day at a time. There were days and weeks where doctors didn’t give me a lot of encouraging news,” says Sandra. “Test results were beyond desperate, and it seemed as though Dave was hooked up to every machine available to help him make it through.”

During this time, Sandra was grateful that family and friends rallied around them in support and prayer. David’s sister, Christine, and her husband, Paul, visited St. Catharines and provided much-needed support to the family. The Boones’ daughter, Stephanie, flew in from Edmonton several times to be near her dad. “It was a blessing that a few family members worked in the medical field, and they were able to help us interpret reports from specialists,” says Sandra.

One evening, the family was called into the hospital because David’s condition was grim. They feared the worst. While Sandra sat next to his bed, surrounded by David Jr., Kristen and Christine, an overwhelming presence washed over her. It told her to pray. The four of them placed their hands on David’s body and Sandra prayed over him.

“I prayed with everything in my being that God would heal Dave’s body and get him through the night,” she says. “I felt like I was looking into the face of God. I’ve never felt a power quite like that before.”

About three hours later, David Jr. came into the hospital’s family room where Sandra was resting and said, “Mom, Dad’s vitals have improved. I think it worked.”

From that moment on, before Sandra left the hospital each night, she asked anyone who visited to place their hands on David and she would pray. In her prayer, she would list every single medical issue that he needed healing from. Over the next several months, the list started getting smaller.

For David, the memories are spotty. He doesn’t remember most of what happened while he was in the ICU, but he felt people praying for him.

At the Mercy Seat

At Easter in 2024, the Boone family had a rough weekend and received more bad news—doctors worried that the infection in David’s blood had gone to his new heart valve and the only thing that would fix it was another valve replacement. The cardiologist said that, in his poor condition, David would never survive the surgery. The family was told to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

“I told the doctor that we are a family of faith and that when nothing else can be done, we will be praying David through it,” says Sandra.

On Easter Sunday, Sandra decided to attend a service at church. She hadn’t been for months, but that day, she stood at the mercy seat. “I just knew that if I stood there, my church family would pray with me, and Dave needed their prayers,” she says. “When I turned around, many of our church family were standing with me and I felt so much love and support.”

That same week, after David was sent for some more tests, the surgeon said to him, “I have good news.”

The doctor said that what they were seeing was not another infection, and that David didn’t need the surgery after all.

The Journey Home

“The next several months brought so many ups and downs with dialysis, liver issues, some better days and many bad days,” says David.

By June, he’d been moved to Welland Hospital for treatment and physiotherapy. His family rallied around him, and friends often visited to help lift his spirits. Through his recovery journey, David would listen to Christian and Army band music in his hospital room, and it brought him to tears many times.

“People would ask me, ‘What can I do to help?’ and I always told them, ‘The most powerful thing you can do is pray,’ ” says Sandra.

In October, eight months after he was admitted to the hospital, David and his family met with a physiotherapist who brought more devastating news. She didn’t think he would ever walk again. He was shocked, but hopeful, and he asked her to do even more physiotherapy. Within a few days, he took his first steps. 

Determined, David told the physiotherapist that he would walk out of the hospital—and he did. On November 8, after 9½ months in the hospital, he walked with the aid of a walker to the patient transfer bed and finally went home. He still needed plenty of healing, but the Lord continued to strengthen him.

“Many days on my way to the hospital, I would cry as I laid all my cares on the Lord in prayer. On my regular route, I passed a church sign that read, ‘In you, Lord, I put my trust,’ ” says Sandra. “It ministered to me every single day.”

The day that David was released from the hospital, Kristen arrived at their house for a visit and told Sandra that the church had taken the sign down.

“God knew I didn’t need it anymore,” says Sandra.

Never Alone

David’s road to recovery isn’t over. Yet through all of this, he and his family cast their burdens on the Lord and trusted him fully.

“Prayer changes things and I have felt the overwhelming presence of God in my life like never before,” says Sandra. “He gave me strength, peace and hope. I knew that whatever the outcome was, I wasn’t alone.”

For anyone experiencing hardship, health concerns or fear, the Boones have three reminders: This is temporary. Run to God. Be patient.