This is one of my favorite testimonies from the works of the late Dr. John Christopher.

Dr. Christopher tells the story: I remember one time we were called out to a house in the wee hours of the morning. This call was to see a little boy, under the age of two years, with double pneumonia. The physician on the case had informed the parents that nothing more could be done and he would come back in the morning to sign the child’s death certificate. Seeing as it was well under forty degrees below zero and nearly fifty miles from ambulance service, the parents were told that the boy, if taken by car to a hospital, would surely die. These parents tried to get other doctors, but at that time of night, and in such a remote area, no one would offer help. A friend told them about us, then living in Evanston, Wyoming, and to try to call us. Having been told of the boy’s condition we went expecting to give him the cold-sheet treatment. Upon arriving there we found that the plumbing was frozen and there was no running water in the house.

We found enough in the toilet tank above the bowl to give the little chap an enema. We were not able to give the cold sheet treatment (no water) so only the garlic paste was made up and applied. This was done after a complete massage of the body and the feet. After oiling the feet up to the ankles, thoroughly, and massaging the olive oil in well, a half-inch thickness of the garlic paste was applied to the soles of his feet. (This is put on only the soles and not up onto the sides). Then gauze was placed over to cover the paste, bandages to hold it into place, and a loose white cotton sock was pulled over the bandages to hold them securely.

Garlic paste is made by taking freshly peeled buttons of garlic and garlic about half and half with Vaseline. This amount can vary, according to the toughness of the feet, more Vaseline for tender feet, less for thicker skin.

Many of the health minded readers will be shocked by our using a low-vibration ointment like Vaseline instead of using anhydrous lanolin or some lighter more organic type. The reasoning for this is that the lighter type ointments will penetrate more quickly into the skin, but the Vaseline will hold the garlic on the ointment form. This will also keep the garlic from blistering as easily. (A garlic blister looks bad, but does not hurt and heals back quickly.)

The little boy was running an extremely high fever and was delirious when he was covered and put back into bed. (This was well after 2:00 a.m.). We assured the parents the child would be all right and would get well. A few days later we were called again by these parents. They told us that the doctor came back to sign the death certificate that next morning, but the little boy was sitting in his high chair, drinking some juice and breathing normally as if nothing had happened the night before. The doctor became so angry and demanded to know the name of the other doctor who had taken over the case before it had been released by him. He wanted a hearing by “the board” to have the other doctor thrown out of practice for going “against procedure” by taking over a case without written release. The parents asked if his “release” was the death of their child. He probably changed his mind because we were not brought before a hearing.

I had forgotten this case until nearly twenty years had passed. One evening, after a lecture in another state, a fine-looking young fellow in his early twenties came up to the podium and shook my hand vigorously, saying he had always wanted to meet me. His mother had told him of our long trip in sub-zero weather at night to their house, of using the natural methods on, and saving his life. He stated that he enjoyed living so much he had been looking forward to meeting me. That paid off for a cold night out on a house call by far more than the small fee that was charged.