A tumor was growing in Shan Sheridan's head. Doctors told him that without surgery to remove the growth, his right eye would stop working within six months. He might even die.

But Sheridan, then 18, didn't worry. He prayed.

The church his family attended was holding a revival the Friday before Sheridan's surgery, scheduled for Monday.

In the middle of the service, the evangelist stopped the service, claiming he felt someone needed a healing, and quick, and it had to do with their eyes, Sheridan explained.

"My mom started bawling," Sheridan said. "He said if you'll come up right now and accept God's healing, God will heal you."

Sheridan, now assistant director of the Clinton County Chamber of Commerce, said he immediately joined the evangelist.

"There was no thunder or lightning," he said. "He prayed, and I went back to my seat."

That Monday, when Sheridan underwent his final CAT scan before the surgery, his doctor was dumbfounded. What happened to the tumor?

"It was gone," he said.

The doctor, thinking he'd erred, wanted to run to another scan, but Sheridan's mother told him not to bother.

"We went to Arby's afterward and had a beef and cheddar and a chocolate shake," he said. "I'll never forget it."

That was 24 years ago, Sheridan said earlier this week, and aside from diminished vision due to what he calls "advancing age," he's had no recurrence of the blockage.
"The medical document literally states 'Act of God,'" he said.

Andy Delbridge

Subject: Did prayers to God help cure cancer?
By all medical standards, Andy Delbridge should be dead.
The North Carolina father of two was diagnosed three years ago with the most aggressive and dangerous type of brain tumor. "I was just devastation. I thought, 'I'm not going to make it, I'm just not going to make it,' " says Delbridge.
His chances of surviving were no more than a few months. "Half the patients are dead within 12 months of diagnosis. The overall survival rate of several years out is felt to be 2, maybe 5 percent," says Dr. Henry Friedman, a neurooncologist at Duke University.
But despite long odds, Delbridge underwent surgery, radiation and painful chemotherapy. And while putting his trust in doctors at Duke University Hospital, Delbridge also put his faith in God.
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Special report: FAITH IN AMERICA
Members of Delbridge's church prayed for him daily. He and his family asked for divine intervention.
"I prayed for a miracle, I really did. I said, 'God, I know you can do it,' " says Andy's wife, Nancy.
"The minute you think that you have no hope, you are down for the count. So you've got to always think there's hope," says Andy.
Today Delbridge is cancer free. Not only is the brain tumor gone, so are the growths that had appeared near his heart. They simply disappeared, without surgery.
For decades the medical community basically ignored the impact of religion on health. But in recent years, scientists have begun studying the possibility that faith matters.
Dr. Harold Koenig leads Duke University's Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health.
"There are hundreds and hundreds of studies — scientific studies — that show that religious people are healthier," says Koenig.
Even Dr. Friedman — who treated Delbridge's cancer says faith can't be ignored. "I think it's critical. I can't quantify it. I can't measure it. I can't do a test to prove that there is some special ingredient to therapy associated with faith," he says.
Andy Delbridge has all the evidence he needs. Delbridge says, "I believe he answered my prayers. I really do."