Healed
Wayne Higgins: The Cry That Cured Cancer
By Tim Branson
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– Wayne Higgins had always counted on himself for success in life. Then after reading through the New Testament, he realized he needed God in his life. What he didn’t know, was he would have to depend on God in ways he never imagined.
Wayne Higgins and his girlfriend, Heather, dated for four years before he finally popped the question. They set a date and started planning the big day.
There’s one thing they failed to consider. Wayne, a postal worker, had lost weight and developed a persistent cough. At first he dismissed it.
“But it progressed, and it just kept going and it wouldn’t go away. I would eat things and it would make it happen. Just any exercise would make that cough come up,” he says.
Heather finally convinced Wayne to see a doctor.
“I could hear a rattling when he breathed and he just could not stop coughing. He had to literally just wait it out,” she says.
It turns out that Wayne had fluid in his lungs. A number of tests gave no indication of what was causing the fluid buildup. Doctors even considered it might have come from his military service in Desert Storm. Wayne finally had a laparoscopy. Heather called his hospital room from work.
Heather recalls, “I said, ‘Well, do they know what it is?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘What is it? Is it tuberculosis or Desert Storm disease or any number of things?’ His voice cracked and he said, ‘No, it’s cancer.’”
Wayne was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma – a cancer that normally shows up in people in their 60s who have been exposed to asbestos. Wayne was 25. Even with treatment, the doctors gave him a year to 18 months to live. Heather and Wayne’s dreams were shattered.
”The way I described it later was I just felt like someone pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it to me and said, ‘Here, Heather, catch!’ because I was just about to have my future,” she explains. “I just felt like that was getting ripped away.”
Despite the horrible news, Heather still wanted to get married. I asked Wayne what that meant to him.
“It meant that I was going to be marrying the right person,” he says.
On June 14, 1997, they married, in sickness and in health.
“Those vows had a lot of significance, more so than most couples,” says Heather. “A lot of our family and friends were there. It just was such a joyful experience. Everything we had hoped it would be, it was because we really needed that then.”
The couple faced another big decision, Wayne’s treatment. Their doctor recommended radiation, but that didn’t offer a cure or even give much hope to extend his life. So, after much prayer and discussion, they decided against it. The only thing left was prayer. Wayne often poured his heart out to God as he drove to work.
”It was a time for me to just pray to God saying, ‘God, this is my desire. I really want to be, more than anything in the world, a husband and a father.’ But it was also good because I was right away able to say, ‘But, God, I want Your will to be done,’” says Wayne.
Heather recalls, “My mom gave us the Scripture Jeremiah 29:11, which says, ‘I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to give you a future and a hope. That really kind of became my prayer for Wayne because I wanted to get old and wrinkly with him.
Over time, Wayne lost 50 pounds. And every six weeks, doctors drained the fluid from his lungs and abdomen. In the meantime, they started a family.
“Eleven months after we were married, I got pregnant with our first daughter,” says Heather. “And when the kids came along, I just really wanted them to know their dad cause he’s a phenomenal father and a wonderful man,” says Heather.
Wayne, Heather and hundreds of family and friends prayed daily for healing. Another year passed, and another. Two more children came. Wayne put on weight and looked healthier, but every six weeks the doctors drained fluid. Then finally, something changed.
“I’d go in and there wasn’t as much fluid. At one point, in about a three or four months period, I went in and there was nothing, no fluid,” Wayne explains.
After four years, the fluids stopped, and today, there’s not a trace of cancer in Wayne’s lungs. It is a miracle they attribute to God’s grace through prayer.
“He’s alive because of it,” says Heather. “And we give the testimony. We try to give God all the praise, honor, and glory because he is a miracle. Wayne’s a miracle.”
W -21.33 “I’ve had ten years of being a husband and we’ve got four kids, and those were my two prayers originally, just, “I want to be a husband and a father.” I’m given that and I love it,” adds Wayne.
Heather recently gave birth to their fourth child. She rejoices that her children will grow up with their dad and she’ll grow old with the man she loves.
“My husband is not alive and well because I’m super Christian,” says Heather. “He’s not alive and well because I stormed the gates of heaven with prayer every day. He’s just alive because God’s merciful. God is love; that’s the bottom line.”
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