Martel, Linda (1956-1961)

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Martel, Linda (1956-1961)

Remarkable child spiritual healer. She was born handicapped, and although she only lived for five years, she became a legend through her ability to heal a wide variety of illnesses through touch or contact with material she had touched. One of the most extraordinary aspects of her healing was that it persisted long after her death.

Born August 21, 1956, at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, she suffered from hydrocephalus and spina bifida, and her legs were paralyzed. When 11 days old, she was taken to St. Peter Port Hospital, Guernsey, to await death. Over the next few weeks her head grew disproportionately large. During this period, her father experienced a strange phenomenon in which his room was filled with a glowing light and he heard a sound like wind blowing. Linda did not die, and soon afterward the fluid was drained away from her head by means of a new American treatment for hydrocephalus. The operation was successful and the size of the head reduced.

At the age of three, Linda frequently spoke about "my Lady" and about Jesus. The Lady had a blue dress and gold chain and lived in heaven with Jesus and also looked after her. At the age of five, Linda foretold her own death, saying, "My Jesus Christ is not coming to see me many more times, but I shall soon be going to see Him." She died October 20, 1961.

During her brief life, Linda manifested healing gifts as early as the age of three. Sometimes she would simply put her finger on a painful point and a cure would take place. At other times she healed through handkerchiefs she had handled. After her death, a sufferer from asthma asked Linda's father whether he could have a piece of her clothing. Her father gave him a piece of a dress, and the sufferer was healed after contact with the material. After that, there were constant demands for pieces of Linda's clothing, and claimed cures through contact with them included warts, eczema, spinal injury, bone disease, and throat cancer.

Because so many pieces of material associated with Linda were used up, her father presented one of her dresses to the Guernsey Museum, in the hope that it might be effective in healing through people simply looking at it, since the material itself was only the intermediary of some unknown force.