Do you believe in miracles?

A Lisburn woman tells Daphne Abernethy her amazing story

IN August last year Iris Riddell was dealt a devastating blow when she was diagnosed with cancer of the bowel and kidney.
After a severe operation, where she had part of her bowel, ovaries and womb removed, followed by four months of intensive chemotherapy, the adverse effects of her condition are all-too-apparent.

Iris has lost quite a bit of weight, and is now just over six stone as a result of her ordeal.
But this is only one half of the Lisburn woman’s remarkable story.
For within 14 months of her initial diagnosis, Iris has miraculously been given the all-clear by her doctors.
Referred to simply by the medical profession as ‘remission’, there seems to be no logical explanation as to why Britain’s biggest killer can, in some cases, spontaneously regress. It’s an illness that claims the lives of over 3,000 people in Northern Ireland every year.
But Iris, 65, has no doubt her recovery is due to her faith in indian avatar, Sathya Sai Baba (also known as Swami).
As she explained: “I have never doubted Swami’s divine power to heal all diseases and sickness known to man.
“Swami, who I believe in the embodiment of love and compassion, helps the sick by revealing to them the power of their own inner strength, to face and cope with their own inner suffering.
“When I was diagnosed with the illness I prayed to Swami for this inner strength.
“He has answered my prayer.”
For what to most of us would be a devastating blow, Iris saw an the ultimate test of her faith in Sai Baba.
Indeed, her attitude from the outset was a clear sign of the inner strength she received from the guru.
Iris first knew something was wrong when in October last year she thought she had irritable bowel syndrome. She was referred to the Lagan valley for testa and in a matter of days she was told she had cancer of the bowel and, worse still, it had spread to her liver.
She said: “When I was first told I had cancer I would be lying if I said I was devastated.
“I felt sorry though for my family who were very upset, especially my husband Alex who found it very difficult to deal with.
“I felt as though I was watching the whole thing on television. This was happening to someone else and I was looking on from a distance.”
She knew about the healing powers of Swami and asked for his help.
She said: “To be honest, I suppose I never really believed I was ill. I surrendered the whole thing to Swami and whatever the outcome I knew it was going to be ok.”
It was as though Iris saw the whole situation as an ultimate test for her faith in Sai Baba.
The four-hour operation for the removal of her internal organs she simply described as ‘uncomfortable’.
the sickening chemotherapy she also took in her stride.
“I secretly knew I would get better. I never really thought I was sick. The cancer had been cancelled by Swami.”
According to Iris, who had visited Sai Baba’s ashram in the southern indian village of Puttaparthi three times since the early 90s, there is nothing unusual about this type of divine intervention.
Like many of his followers, she believes with, as with Christ, Sai Baba is a human form of God.
The orange-clad 74-year-old with the trademark Afro hairstyle may look like an unlikely deity, but many claim they have seen him raise the dead, heal the sick and still rainstorms.
Indeed, Sai Baba’s reputation is built on a mountain of miracles and psychic phenomena that is said to occur on an almost daily basis.
He is even said to have turned water into petrol – a sort of 20th century take on a classical biblical miracle. Despite the best efforts of many to prove him a fake, no-one has as yet succeeded.
Sai Baba’s following is definitely no fringe cult. At his southern Indian ashram, the Abode of Great Peace in Puttaparthi, tens of thousands of pilgrims crowd to see him daily.
As Iris explained, where once a single bullock-cart track led to his home, there is now an airport, with a university – all through the efforts of Sai Baba.
At the magnificent hospital Sai Baba established, where all medical care is free, surgeons perform various operations, including open-heart surgery and kidney transplants.
What would Iris say to the many sceptics?
“I have no desire to impose my views on anyone, nor does Swami.
“Swami is of no particular religion. HIs message to Christians is to be better Christians, to Buddhists is to be better Buddhists and so on.
“But I think that people should start opening their minds and begin to realise that we live in a multi-dimensional universe. There is much more to life than this physical world of big houses and fast cars.
“People know this in their hearts and a visit to Swami simply confirms it.”