After word spread about “John of God,” a farmer with very little education who is able to heal patients with a wide variety of diseases living in a small rural town in Brazil, millions flocked to Casa in Abadiania with hope.
Dr. Jeffrey Rediger, a psychiatrist in Massachusetts, decided to see for himself and his medically trained eye the validity to these rumored miracles.
“Some people who I spoke with were able to remember the events going around them completely, and some people seem to enter a sort of altered state during these surgeries,” Dr. Rediger said. “When I was assisting in one of the surgeries, [John of God] cut this woman’s cornea. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t try to pull away from him. I can’t explain that. I heard some people use the term ’spiritual anesthesia.’ I have no way to understand that.”
With hopes to collect tangible evidence, Dr. Jeff Rediger traveled to Brazil and got more than he expected. He recounted his experience on the Oprah show:
Dr. Jeffrey Rediger says he experienced firsthand something unexplainable while in Brazil. He says he was walking down the street one day when a friend pointed out to him that he was bleeding. Dr. Rediger pulled up his shirt and found a small horizontal incision on his chest. Dr. Rediger, who does not have a bleeding disorder, says it bled for about an hour.
Dr. Rediger: I didn’t know what to say; I didn’t know how to respond. I had no idea what was going on.
Oprah: Because you suddenly have spontaneous bleeding and an incision that you didn’t have before? Is that what you’re telling us?
Dr. Rediger: Correct. I’d never had anything like that happen in my life. Ever. I’d been to seminary, medical school, residency in psychiatry, and nothing had prepared me to understand.”
Oprah: Looking back, with some hindsight and perspective, do you have a medical explanation for what happened to you?
Dr. Rediger: I don’t have a medical explanation for it. My whole life has been turned upside down in many ways. I have changed a lot.
According to Vitals.com, Dr. Jeffrey Rediger completed his medical degree at a top-ranked Indiana University School of Medicine in 1997. With consistent excellent patient ratings, Dr. Jeffrey Rediger has an average wait-time of 10 minutes at his practice.
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