Thanks to Pedro Ballester I can write this favour in English. I am writing it because I am deeply grateful to Pedro Ballester and I would like to encourage many people to ask him for other favours in order to increase devotion.

Four years ago, I attended a formation course in Manchester. I had studied English for 4 years and I wanted to improve my English. It was in Manchester when I heard of Pedro for the first time. I got interested in his life and I went to the cemetery where he is buried to pray to him. I cleaned his tomb with so much love as if I were his little sister.

In January 2024, I had to be operated on because I had a tumour around the carotid artery. The operation was a very difficult one because, although the tumour was benign, it was situated in a very sensitive area to be removed. As a consequence, I had a big stroke because a blood clot went straight to the brain.

Thank God, the stroke only affected me cognitively: in particular, it greatly affected my attention span and my speech a little. I began to recover thanks to physiotherapy and speech and language therapy. But what was most important for me was that I could lead the same life as before the operation. The doctor told me to carry on studying English because it was the best I could do to keep my brain active.

I started to prepare for an English exam to enrol in the Official School of Languages in Madrid. But the teacher there told me I would have to start at A1 level. I had studied English for 7 years and I didn’t want to start at such a low level. If I wanted to begin at a higher level, I had to prepare alone for an exam. I had never done an official exam, so I made a big effort to pass it.

I then remembered Pedro because he was a person who knew English well. That is why I thought of asking him this favour. Because of my stroke I had a lot of difficulty, and it was a real challenge for me. I then looked for Pedro’s prayer card and I discovered the card I had kept from when I was in Manchester. It was in English! I started to ask Pedro for this favour, praying it in English every night because I felt I would be unable to pass the exam because of my reduced attention span after the stroke.

I spent 2 months preparing for the exam on my own. That exam consists of a written test, which I had to do online, and also speech and grammar tests.

When I went to do the exam, I realized that the paper which I had received with my user name and password wasn’t mine. The exam was under a different name. I told the examiner about this mistake as I didn’t understand what was happening.  A teacher looked at my mark and it was for level A1. I told her that it was impossible. If I were to do an exam with another name, who had done mine?

The director told me that I had to do the exam again at that moment. Before going to do the speech test, I prayed Pedro’s prayer card which  I had taken in my handbag.

Due to my brain situation, I was legally entitled to some conditions, for instance, more time to do the exam, as well as doing it alone in a different classroom. However, as the exam had been improvised, I ended up doing the exam with more people and having the same time as everyone else.

I wasn’t able to finish the whole exam. As I didn’t agree with that, I put in a complaint at the School of Languages.

However, when I asked for my mark, it was B1+! I am sure that Pedro helped me to achieve my goal. I will be able to begin at level B1+ thanks to him.

Pedro is like a brother to me!

To conclude, I have written about this favour firstly because I am really grateful to him and secondly I would like many people to get to know him a little more.

MR (Madrid, Spain)

7 September 2026

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