Grateful for Every Breath After Illness
Tee Unn, who has served at Our Daily Bread Ministries for 20 years, was looking forward to celebrating his mother’s and wife’s birthdays, but just a few days before, in his words, “I gave them a big surprise.”
On 13 June 2018, he found himself feeling strangely weak. When his legs gave out beneath him, he knew something was wrong. His wife called an ambulance, and that’s when their ordeal began.
Conscious but paralysed in bed
They rushed to the general hospital in Johor Bahru where they lived, and Tee Unn was diagnosed with Miller-Fisher Syndrome, a form of Guillain-Barré Syndrome and an autoimmune disease. An extremely rare disorder, the nerve disease is triggered by an infection that causes one’s immune system to attack its own body.
Reflecting on his condition, Tee Unn realised there were signs before his collapse, like changes in taste, lack of energy, poor motor skills and sudden loss of appetite. He initially brushed it off as a common illness, but now Tee Unn was paralysed, lying in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) unable to move or open his eyes.
Using a breathing aid, he was mostly conscious but couldn’t respond to anyone. He recalled, “It was like being trapped in my own body. I asked myself, ‘Is this the end of my life?’ With my wife six months’ pregnant at the time, I also worried about whether I would ever recover.” Feeling helpless, he pleaded with God to save him.
Helpless, terrified and with no control
In the days that followed, Tee Unn experienced a series of medical mishaps. Due to lack of oxygen masks, he was made to wear a child’s version, while a misplaced neck brace caused extreme pain with every breath as his respiratory muscles had weakened. A wrong eye drop prescription also led to swelling around his eyes.
His family considered moving him to a private hospital for better care, but as Hari Raya approached, no ambulances were available to transport him over. Despite the setback, Tee Unn now believes that God was ultimately in control of every step.
A week later, he was transferred to a normal ward due to lack of space in the HDU. There, the level of care deteriorated. One night, he nearly choked on his own vomit, saved only by a visitor of another patient who alerted the nurses.
This was a torturing and degrading experience, as Tee Unn was usually a capable, independent man, and even a former St Johns’ Ambulance officer with medical knowledge. He begged God again and again to help him out of his pain. At one point, he even heard a dark voice telling him to end his suffering by jumping out the window.
A test of faith every day
Every day in hospital was a test of faith. Tee Unn recalled that he was once mistakenly made to fast from tube-feeding for six days. As a result, he lost 18kg. Later, it was revealed that he only had to fast for a day. Once, during a bone marrow biopsy, he even overheard the doctor confessing that it was his first time performing the procedure.
But rather than blame, Tee Unn focused on prayer and forgiveness, especially towards the public health system and the staff standards. “Life is too short not to forgive,” he said. He also learnt a hard lesson on humility, having to ask nurses for help to do simple tasks like going to the toilet.
A month later, Tee Unn was discharged. He went home “early” by private healthcare standards, hiring a nurse to look after him for the next six months with financial help from colleagues. He also underwent acupuncture, and his nerves and sensations were fully restored.
Every breath is a gift from God
Eight months after that fateful day in June 2018, Tee Unn was back to work in Our Daily Bread Ministries’ office. On his first day back, he took a picture of the sky and his breakfast, saying, “I’m happy to breathe, to see the sky, and to eat.” Every little thing is now a blessing.
Today, Tee Unn shares his story as a testament of God’s lovingkindness and healing grace, saying, “God led and cared for me every step of the way. He is the best doctor, and as long as He is with me, I can face any difficulty.”
He understands now that being in a government hospital was the Lord’s perfect timing and arrangement for him. God protected his finances, and restored his health in time for his daughter’s birth. The following year, he was also able to attend his father’s funeral.
in the year of his sickness
and take care of his newborn daughter.
This photo was taken a year later.
After such a crippling illness, Tee Unn encourages others to count each day a blessing, and to consider trials a joy as James 1:2-4 writes:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
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