Elsa was sentenced to death as a newborn – now she has turned 28 years old

In July last year, Elsa Hyllsjö turned 28; a cheerful girl who loves life. Before Elsa was born, the parents had lost two of their children to a rare disease. When Elsa showed the same symptoms, the situation looked hopeless.

Elsa Hyllsjö has invited her parents, Urban and Kristina Khemi, home to tell Inblick about the dramatic summer weeks 28 years ago.
She herself has no memories of her own, because she was a newborn. For family, relatives and friends, on the other hand, what happened at half past ten on the evening of Wednesday, July 22, 1992, is forever imprinted in consciousness.

Rare and serious illness
In the early 1980’s, life looked bright and promising for the young couple Khemi. Their first child Emanuel was two years old, completely healthy and normally developed. But when Kristina was expecting the family’s other children, small clouds of unrest appeared in the sky. Some signs made her fear that everything was not quite right with the child she was expecting.
– I felt no fetal movements during pregnancy, which lasted over time 17 days. Once the birth started, it was painfully prolonged.
It was not long before Emma’s parents realized that not everything was right. She had difficulty controlling her body and we got in touch with a professor in Uppsala, one of the country’s foremost neurologists.
The professor found that the child had the very unusual disease progressive spinal muscular atrophy; Werdnig Hoffman’s disease Art 1. The disease means that all muscles in the body wither and fade away. The tragedy is that vital functions are also declining.
Early on, difficulties are noticed for the child to lift his head, to suck and to swallow. The disease is hereditary and the parents are healthy carriers of the diseased plant. Children with the most severe form of the disease usually die within a few months. There is no cure.
To her despair, Emma’s parents were forced to realize that there was nothing to do and little Emma died when she was only two months old.

Worrying signs again
Life went on, the family expanded with Elin, a healthy and lively child, but when Kristina became pregnant again, she again noticed worrying signs.
When his son Elijah was born, it became clear that he was suffering from the same serious illness. Powerless, the parents were forced to witness that Elijah also died at the age of two months.
The pain was great in the family. Mother Kristina remembers the tough times.
– We just cried and prayed quietly in tongues and we felt that God was close in the middle of everything. When we prayed, Elijah looked at us with clear eyes. It was as if he was looking straight through us. We prayed “God, you are in control, even when we do not understand what is happening and we give Elijah to you”.
After the tragic experiences, Kristina had begun to think about whether they would really dare to plan for a few more children.
In that situation, the Khemi couple received a greeting through a prophet with a prophetic gift, that the Lord wanted to bless them twice. Another daughter was born and with her happiness returned to the Khemi family.
The girl, who was given the name Edit, was happy and alert and it felt as if the dark legacy of illness had been broken.
But when Kristina was expecting her next child, she noticed the same worrying sign again.

A bright light
Elsa was born and early on it was clear to the parents that the child was suffering from the same terrible disease. Dad Urban remembers that in his despair he went out to mess with the car to dispel thoughts.
– I prayed a desperate prayer “God, I do not know if we can lose more children now”. Then I experienced so strongly that we would go to the European Conference in Uppsala and receive intercession for Elsa. We found out that there would be a healing meeting on Wednesday night so we went there with the whole family.
The visiting pastor, Morris Cerullo from the United States, called a number of people with various illnesses to intercession.
After several hours, the meeting was about to end. Kristina began to cry in despair; it felt as if they had lost the last, fragile straw.
Then the American healing preacher suddenly stopped. He explained that he saw a bright light and felt that God wanted to heal a child with an incurable disease.
In the big tent sat about 7,000 people, but the preacher looked up at their particular section of the pulpit.
Urban immediately perceived that the opportunity they had been waiting for had now come. As fast as the eye could see, Kristina made her way to the stage with Elsa in her arms and her brother-in-law followed her.
– At full speed we got up on the stage and I held Elsa in my arms. Morris Cerullo urged everyone in the tent to reach out to us and unite with him in prayer.
On the video recording from the meeting, you can see how little Elsa suddenly stretches out her hands and spreads her fingers.
– She who had only been able to suck a little loosely on my breast, sucked like a hedgehog late in the evening and she had a completely new charter in her body.
Elsa was only 19 days this wonderful Wednesday night, when the time for a moment seemed to stand still and she came back to life. There is no other documented case of someone being diagnosed with this disease reaching adulthood.
Then the development followed step by step; Elsa began to make sounds, move her whole body, eat properly and steadily gain weight.
– We told what happened to the neurology professor in Uppsala, with whom we had contact so many before. She was silent for a while and then she said “I do not think in the same way as you, but that Elsa has now recovered feels like having received a nice gift”.

Every day a gift
Elsa has so far quietly listened to her parents’ description of what happened in the first dramatic weeks of her life. Of course, she has heard the story many times before and watched the recorded video, which is on a DVD on the TV bench.
It has now been 28 years and Elsa is a radiant and cheerful young woman, married to Patrik for 8 years. She is very happy with her job as a preschool teacher and is happy about the life that became hers.
– I am so grateful for the life I have received and see every day as a gift, says Elsa with tears in her eyes. God is the reason I live and I have never doubted that he exists. Everything works well in my body, I go to the gym and build my muscles and there are no signs that I was born with an incurable disease.
Urban and Kristina unanimously explain that Elsa has always been a joy spreader in the family and that she was born with a great deal of empathy for other people. Elsa herself thanks God every day for the great gift of life.
– I also feel great gratitude to mom and dad for letting me be born, even though mom recognized the symptoms early on that something was wrong. That’s why I want to take advantage of life and make the best of it. Many take life for granted, but for me who would only have been a few months, every day feels like a bonus, says Elsa Hyllsjö gratefully.

B ÖRJE NORLÉN

With permission from the magazine  Inblick