Audrey
Reynolds suffered from epilepsy all her life. A congenital brain abnormality
meant she would suffer seizures if she did not take three tablets a day. It
proved a constant frustration that nothing could be done to cure her, but the
devout Christian lived in hope that one day her condition would improve.
In
the summer of 1992 a poster advertising the imminent arrival in London of
American TV evangelist Morris Cerullo caught the 25-year-old’s eye. “Some will
see miracles for the first time” it claimed.
Audrey
was intrigued and joined 80,000 people who went to Cerullo’s eight-day
"crusade" at the Earls Court exhibition centre. Having queued
patiently for her chance to meet Cerullo, Audrey took the stage telling the
preacher she believed his message of healing power had cured her. Six days
later she had an epileptic fit and drowned in her bath.
The
inquest into Audrey’s death heard that only 2.2mg per litre of the lifesaving
drug she needed was found in her body - the dose should have been 7.2mg.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Southwark coroner Sir Montague Levine
said: “It is a tragedy that she went to this meeting and thought she was cured
of everything. Sadly, it led to her death.”
A
spokesman for San Diego-based Morris Cerullo World Evangelism (MCWE) called it
“a very sad situation” but two weeks later the preacher held a press conference
raging at the “total injustice” of being blamed for having any role in Audrey’s
death. Referring to Sir Montague’s comments, the televangelist said: “I think
it was a mischaracterisation, a total injustice. I think conclusions were drawn
too quickly. The coroner did not have evidence of the attitude of the person’s
mind and he decided what he thought of the matter.”
Dr
Cerullo said his crusade to London had been a success and that he had received
746 testimonies from people saying they had been cured of various ailments
after attending the rally. Now the controversial preacher is about to return to
England, aged 82, for the last time.
His
final "Mission to London" posters advertise a six-day residency at
Earls Court next week and again make promises of miracles. On promotional
material he boasts: “I am expecting 1,000+ people to be saved every night for
six nights during August 2014.”
Audrey’s
mother, Belzie, is furious. “Cerullo is a dangerous man but I can’t stop him,
much as I’d like to,” she told The Independent from her home in Clapham, south
London. “His shows are all about money. I remember when my daughter went there
all those years ago looking for hope, believing something might happen. I
didn’t go. I watched it on TV and saw there were people with buckets collecting
money throughout the event. They are all in it for the money.”
Audrey’s
story is not the only tragic one associated with Cerullo’s trips to England.
Great efforts have been made to remove video footage from the internet of him
"healing" his audience, but some remain. Audrey can be seen in one
clip face to face with Cerullo, declaring that she feels fine “because I can
jump”. Cerullo asks to see her jump. Audrey obliges and Cerullo screams his
delight at the audience at the "miracle".
