Anne Graham Lotz, Christian author and daughter of the late Billy and Ruth Graham, asked her followers on social media to pray for her daughter, Rachel-Ruth, earlier this week.
Graham shared that her daughter was rushed to the hospital on Saturday night after suffering a heart attack. After having a catheterization on Sunday, Rachel-Ruth experienced a second heart attack.
“The mystery is that her heart has no blockages which can cause traditional style heart attacks,” Lotz said. “Hers is a very rare condition one doctor described as a ‘broken heart syndrome.’ There is no known cause.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, broken heart syndrome is a temporary heart condition that is often a result of stressful situations and extreme emotions. The condition can also be triggered by a “serious physical illness or surgery.” Broken heart syndrome is treatable and usually reverses itself within days or weeks.
At the time Lotz posted her prayer request, Rachel-Ruth was still in the hospital undergoing tests and is expected to be there for several more days.
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“I am urgently asking you to join my family in praying for Rachel-Ruth,” Lotz pleaded with her friends and followers. “Please pray for her heart to stabilize; for accurate diagnosis and treatment; for the doctor’s supernatural wisdom; for peace and comfort for all of us.”
Lotz said that she has been praying Psalm 73:26, which reads, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
She concluded her post by sharing Psalm 103, a “very encouraging” verse from her daily devotions, which says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul…Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”
Last July, Anne’s son, Jonathan, had to be admitted to the ICU due to COVID-19 complications. The concerned mother said that she placed her son in the “arms of Jesus.” Jonathan spent nearly a month in the hospital recovering from COVID’s Delta variant, which caused him to develop pneumonia. “God has heard and answered your prayers for my son,” Lotz said praising God for her son’s recovery.
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Anne’s brother, Samaritan Purse’s CEO and President Franklin Graham, underwent a successful heart surgery last November at the Mayo Clinic because he had developed constrictive pericarditis, an inflammation and hardening of the sac around the heart.
