Almost three years ago I was in a very bad state: I could no longer even climb a flight of stairs, so I had a blood test. That very afternoon I was called and asked to go to the hospital: my haemoglobin levels were dangerously low. From that moment all the tests began, and a few days later I was diagnosed with a fairly large colon cancer. At the age of 30, which I was at the time, my world collapsed. You do not expect to face the possibility of death at such a young age, especially as it was already the second cancer I had suffered.
Although I had studied at a school affiliated with Opus Dei, my family and social environment was agnostic and I didn’t go to Mass on Sundays. I had received the sacraments at school, but almost as a formality, without faith. When I finished school, I completely abandoned the sacraments and distanced myself from anything to do with the Church. I went on to university and even went so far as to hide the fact that I had attended a Catholic school.
However, in the days leading up to the diagnosis, I felt that the Lord was speaking to me. I experienced it as in the films, where you hear a voice telling you, “Come, here”. That is what happened: I went to the parish closest to my home, not knowing what to do. I saw a young priest enter and told him about my situation. He asked me whether I wanted to go to confession. I thought he would tell me to come back another day, because I said it had been more than thirteen years since my last confession. Instead he told me to spend some time doing an examination of conscience and that he would help me to confess. I did so, and I left feeling as if I were floating, with the certainty that I could face any illness with God’s help. I came out renewed.
When I shared my experience, some Catholic university students sent me some prayercards of Pedro Ballester. I had known absolutely nothing about his story, but now it reminded me very much of my own, and I began to ask for his intercession. Speaking about this with the priest who had heard my confession, he recommended the book about Pedro’s life and accompanied me through those days of uncertainty, giving me greater strength.
I was operated on less than a month after the diagnosis, and despite the large size of the tumour and the fact that there appeared to be metastasis in the lymph nodes, everything was successfully removed and I did not need chemotherapy. Because it was such a case of this type of cancer in such a young person, it is contributing to medical research. I was subsequently diagnosed with Lynch syndrome, which makes me more prone to developing cancers: there have already been two. I ask God that there may be no more, but that His will be done.
The Lord has saved me in every sense, and I feel that I have gained a friend in Heaven in Pedro. I continue to entrust to him different aspects of my life, especially the conversion of my friends.
I wanted to share my experience and to express my hope that one day he will be beatified and canonised.
Thank you for reading this and for the apostolate that Pedro continues to carry out.
With affectionate regards, and my prayers,
AXX (Madrid, Spain)
2 February 2026

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