In February 2008, Mark Nelson was admitted to a Tallahassee, Florida hospital with double pneumonia. While in intensive care, doctors delivered devastating news: Mark had AIDS. As his condition declined, he was placed in a medically induced coma while family and friends prayed around the clock.
During Easter weekend, Mark went into cardiac arrest. He later described a near-death experience in which he cried out to Jesus before regaining consciousness. When he was brought out of the coma, his family noticed immediate changes. Mark says that during that time in the hospital, his same-sex attraction, which he had lived with for years, completely left him. He describes it as an unexpected and lasting transformation that accompanied his renewed faith.
Doctors began to see rapid physical improvement—much faster than they expected. When Mark was released from the hospital weeks later, doctors told him his HIV was “undetectable.”
Mark got married to a woman, and began working with a missions organization in Florida, and says his HIV has remained undetectable ever since. He credits both his physical healing and personal transformation to God’s intervention and the prayers offered during the darkest moments of his illness.
