Survivors of natural disasters such as the Haitian earthquake will admit that they’ll never forget the impact of such a fearsome event for the rest of their lives. If you’ve never been denied a healthy and normal lifestyle, which many regretfully lack, a life crammed with perpetual pains is sure to seem eerie and impossible. In fact, a compassionate mission to an Intensive Care Unit would yield knowledge and a change in sentiments.
Arlene Kauffman’s account in Stronger than Pain has the same effect. It will leave you asking one single question over and over again: How could God allow so much pain and setbacks to ravage His own?
Stronger than Pain is such an emotional and traumatic account that is better imagined than witnessed. Arlene had to endure the rout of her youthful life at the hands of savage medical infections.
A simple limb fracture was eclipsed by a flurry of other complex conditions such as pancreatitis, which later became chronic, then a hyper-thyroid condition, the cutting off of her organs. The list never seems to end: all from the tender age of six!
With occasional recoveries, and also dramatic side-effects, relapses and even notorious setbacks. Arlene proved to be resilient, as she did freely exercise her strong faith in God.
Despite her bravery, the young lady had to cope with the deep pains of an absent father, the self-pity of being a burden and of no use to her family; nevertheless the love of her siblings never wearied out, until her last breath a few decades later!
Crucial, however, is the kind of beautiful and warm spirit she displayed to everyone, including other patients and medical teams she came into contact with: they all had something endearing and inspirational to say about her.
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