Ashley Hallford is a religious woman who had a close call with death. A native of Douglasville, Georgia, she was excited that she would soon be a proud mother. However, she was a little concerned about a tiny ‘knot’ at the back of her head. She tried to ignore the sensation and the pain, but it slowly started getting worse. Consulting a doctor, she was told she had brain cancer. Although it was a rare form of cancer, it was still a dreaded disease.
Due to her pregnancy at the time, doctors had to be extremely careful with her diagnosis and treatment. When she reached the 33rd week of pregnancy, she was induced into labor, so she could have her baby born and then go for her cancer treatments after that. The doctors made plans for the baby to go into neo-natal intensive care unit, but the baby turned out to be fine and could be brought home. According to the doctors, it was nothing short of a miracle.
For Ashley, things were not looking good. Four days after of giving birth to her son she was sent in for surgery. The doctors found out that the cancer had spread into areas of her brain which were inoperable. To save her life, the doctors immediately placed her on radiation therapy. But even under aggressive radiation therapy, the cancer could not be stopped – in fact, it was still spreading to critical parts of her brain.
Ashley was given the worst news of her life when she was told by her doctors that she had Stage 4 brain cancer and that she should get “her affairs in order”. Instead of giving up and losing hope, Ashley turned towards her only hope – prayer. This time, it wasn’t just her alone, since her whole group at the church also started to pray for her, providing her with spiritual and emotional support.
It was miraculous, but seven months after being told that her cancer could not be cured and it was not possible to operate – she tested clean on the radiation scan. For the first time in her life, she had been in remission.
Ashley Hallford credits God towards her speedy recovery. As per her interview with MSN, she stated that it is her goal to spread hope, to give people the strength to go on in the face of difficulty.
