Missionary David Allen Needs Prayers for a Mysterious Intestinal Condition–Previously Truth, Now Resolved!
Summary of eRumor:
David Allen is a missionary in Thailand. He is critically ill and could die within two months. A message from him says he’s been suffering for so long that he’s discouraged and is facing the possibility of dying. He can’t handle normal food, keeps ending up in the emergency room, and multiple tests for parasites have not found the problem or a solution.
The Truth:
David Allen is a real person and a missionary to Thailand and he was seriously ill, but we classify this one as fiction because the email that is continuing to be circulated on the Internet is from 1997. The last report we heard was from a year later and David was happy, optimistic, and back on the mission field. He said that parasites had done severe damage to the lining of his intestines, but that he was about 80 percent recovered and just trying to stay away from spicy foods. Early tests had shown the presence of parasites, but doctors could not narrow down what they were or how to attack them. David credits the prayers as responsible for sudden tests that could not find the parasites and marked the beginning of his recovery.