30 Mar, 2019 @ 09:52
1 min read

British expat reverend thanks God and wife four years after doctors sent him home to die on Spain’s Costa Blanca

INSPIRING: Clive refused to give up on life

A BRITISH reverend who was sent home to die by doctors is celebrating his FOURTH year of dodging the grim reaper.

Vergel-based expat Clive Read, 79, was suffering from pneumonia and an undiagnosed heart condition when he stopped responding to treatment at Denia Hospital in April 2015.

The father-of-one, originally from Sidcup, was sent home with โ€˜a few days to liveโ€™, but miraculously recovered โ€˜thanks to his wife and Godโ€™.

โ€œMy wife Ann was a saint and did everything that a loving and caring wife would do and more,โ€ the holyman told the Olive Press.

In fact it was when his wife revealed that she would need a break from being his caregiver and that she planned to bring in a part-time helper that Read sprung into action – literally.

โ€œThat very same day I rolled out of bed, rolled onto my zimmer frame, took one step and got back into bed,โ€ he recalled.

โ€œThe next day I took another step and the next day another, until one day Ann came back from work and found me walking around the living room.โ€

The reverend, who has lived in Alicante for more than 50 years, shocked doctors when he returned to the hospital for treatment eight months later.

โ€œThe doctor said to me, โ€˜I thought you died!โ€™

โ€œIt was then that she told me she sent me home because she thought I would have preferred to have died in my own home.โ€

The expat, who also runs the Oasis Help Centre, in Javea, which helps expats settle in to life in Spain, added: โ€œNow I feel fabulous and better than ever, bring on the 80th birthday in May.โ€

Got an inspiring expat story? Get in touch at newsdesk@theolivepress.es

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