After COVID Nearly Killed Him, One Prayer Saved Him

“I was plagued by anxiety, panic attacks,” Carlos Figueroa said while thinking back on his struggles with PTSD and alcoholism. “The enemy was in my ear, always telling me that, ‘You're going to die, you're going to die, you're going to die.’ So, that's why I always drank to mask that.”

Carlos, an acclaimed body builder, began sharing the gospel through feats of strength shortly after becoming a Christian in 2006. He loved ministry work, but at the same time he was struggling to provide for his family. So, he decided to enlist in the Army.

“Ever since I was 18, I wanted to join the military,” Carlos said. “So, 2009, I saw a Chinook helicopter by the beach, and I said, ‘You know, I think it's time for me to take care of my family and serve my country.’”

He committed himself fully to the Army, working hard to climb the ranks. Then in 2011, he was deployed to Afghanistan – a place where his mind and faith would be tested.

“We were in fight mode 24/7,” Carlos said. “It's hard. It's hard on the brain. You're away from your family. There's indirect fire. There's also a constant requirement of getting your job done no matter what. At some point, God was replaced by the military. I put Him on the back burner. I didn't know how to handle it.”

After his year of deployment, Carlos returned to the US and was stationed at a new base with a new unit. Away from the brothers-in-arms he’d fought alongside in Afghanistan, and struggling from PTSD, he turned to alcohol to cope.  

“It was just so depressing being there. I just start drinking by myself and remembering the times with my buddies. It led to a DUI in 2013. That's when the darkness came in.”

He was discharged from the Army. Shamed by the experience, Carlos began drinking more heavily. Through it all, his wife continued to pray for him to quit, even as the family was struggling with his behavior.

“The Army was everything for me. I didn't want to be helped. I don't want to be touched. I just wanted to be left alone. So, it led me to just drown all that in alcohol. I would get to the point to where I would drink so much that I would forget to go pick up my daughter. I was hungover while working and then drank when I came home. So, I became a functional alcoholic. The fear was just of always dying. It was a constant, merry-go-round for me, you know, drinking, fear of dying, drinking again. I definitely didn't feel like I was good enough for Jesus.”

By 2021, 38-year-old Carlos had gained 140 pounds, and his liver was nearly destroyed. Doctors told him that if he kept drinking, he wouldn’t make it past 40. Knowing he needed to change but failing to on his own, he finally cried out to God.

“I said, ‘Lord, I'll do whatever it takes. If you have to put me in the hospital, if you have to put a tube in my mouth so I can stop drinking and lose weight.’ That's the exact prayer I prayed,” Carlos said. “Careful what you pray for.”

Carlos caught COVID-19 and was admitted to the hospital. After being told he’d have to be intubated, he and his wife prayed for his life to be spared. While in a medically induced coma, Carlos says God showed him something.

“The Lord took me into, it wasn't Heaven, it was Hell,” Carlos said. “He showed me I'd end up dying in a fiery truck crash from alcoholism if I continued to drink. The whole family would be broken. It was a nightmare. And then I woke up. I realize I've been intubated for three weeks and I almost died. I said, ‘Lord, no matter what happens, I'm still going to serve you. I love you.’ I started feeling this warm feeling in my body, and I started feeling healing. And I started feeling like, ‘It's time to go.’”

Despite having just come out of a coma, Carlos was up and walking within a day. He was told his rehab would take months – he was released within a week.

“I was completely healed,” Carlos said. “From the lungs to the kidneys to the liver. Him bringing me back from the dead was like a Lazarus moment. I made a promise to myself that I would never touch alcohol ever again. The Lord knew this type of event needed to happen for me to just stop cold turkey. I didn't do a 12-step, I did it one step. The Lord healed me completely. I need work my tail off to become the man that he wants me to be, that the enemy had stole for eight years.”

Carlos started reading the Bible and praying daily, growing in his relationship with God. He reconciled with his family and became more present in their lives. Through proper diet and exercise, he regained his strength and opened a nutrition store. There, he shares his testimony with everyone who’ll listen – about how God completely healed and transformed his life.

“The gratefulness I have for the Lord in my life right now is unexplainable,” Carlos said. “All glory to Him for me surviving this, for giving me the second chance. The power of prayer is 100 percent in my belief system. I've seen it. Death doesn't bother me. Now, do I still have PTSD? Yes, but do I mask it with alcohol? No, Jesus helps me with it. He guides me in my path and everything that I need to do. It makes it easier because we just rely on him and we just give it all to him. We completely rely on him now and that’s the way we live our lives – obedience and reliance on Him.”