Burrswood A miracle of healing, 100 years on
For many, 1912 is known as the year the Titanic sank but for Burrswood Hospital in Groombridge, a Christian organisation for people of any faith or none, it has a different significance.
On February 18, 1912, Dorothy Kerin lay dying in her home in London, surrounded by her family. The 22-year-old had endured years of illness and was suffering from tubercular meningitis and peritonitis. She had been in a coma for most of the previous fortnight and her doctor said she wouldn’t survive the night.
But late in the evening Dorothy suddenly sat up declaring she was well. She insisted on getting out of bed and then asked for food, which she ate ravenously.
peacetime returned, she owned six properties and had adopted nine war orphans.
She said she was charged to “heal the sick, comfort the sorrowing and give faith to the faithless”.
The doctor, an eminent practitioner and surgeon, had no explanation for what had happened and later told a reporter: “Had I read about it, I certainly should not have believed it.”
Subsequent medical tests revealed no trace of the lesions and symptoms associated with her illness. It was a fully documented miraculous cure and, as news of Dorothy’s healing spread, she became an overnight celebrity.
Dorothy later wrote a book, The Living Touch. In it she said that during the two weeks prior to her healing she had a vision of the Lord and angels asking her “will you go back?”. She said she was charged to “heal the sick, comfort the sorrowing and give faith to the faithless”.
In the years following her healing, Dorothy prayed for guidance as to how she should accomplish this task. The years of war were full of practical difficulties but when
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In 1929 she opened her first Home of Healing in a small house in Ealing. Further houses were added then in 1946 she moved to Speldhurst in Kent. Two years later Dorothy acquired the estate of Burrswood, in nearby Groombridge, a place that would be her home for the rest of her life and where her work continues today in what is now a 40-bed hospital. Dorothy died in 1963.
Burrswood is registered with the Care Quality Commission and runs as non-surgical independent hospital. Alongside the medical team it has resident chaplains and regular healing services are held in the church. Uniquely, patients can
benefit from medical care combined with spiritual care, as required.
The hospital now runs as a private enterprise but in keeping with Dorothy’s vision it is also a charity with a bursary fund, the Access To Care Fund, which supports the fees of patients who would otherwise not be able to stay.
A centenary appeal is being launched to raise £150,000 to renovate the hydrotherapy pool and £100,000 for the Access To Care Fund. Events planned include a thanksgiving service at St Martin in the Fields on May 23, when the preacher will be the Bishop of London. Burrswood will also be displaying of some of the great many pieces of archive material detailing its fascinating history.
To find out more about the hospital and centenary fundraising events, go to
www.burrswood.org.uk
BURSWOOD
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