Miracle healings not recognised by government computer

A woman confined to a wheelchair for six years has been told that she cannot end her welfare allowance claims even after being healed of her disability because the government computer does not recognise miracles.

June Clarke, 56, and a devoted Christian who is now able to walk, said that her healing was all down to the power of prayer. When she passed this on to benefits officials in order to end her disability allowance, however, she was refused because their computer "didn't have a button for miracles", the Daily Mail reports.

Clarke was confined to a wheelchair after slipping on a wet floor at work in 2000. Her hip, pelvis and spine were all badly damaged in the accident.

Stuart, 58, her husband and a pastor at Hooe Baptist Church has said that he prayed every day since the incident that God would "bring my wife back", reports the Daily Mail.

When Mrs Clarke attended a Christian conference in January last year she became able to walk again. Four months later, and still cured of her injuries, she got in touch with the Government's Industrial Injury Department in order to cease claiming disability benefits.

Despite her requests she was refused and was paid £3,600 in benefits despite being in good health. Her request was denied as Mrs Clarke had been granted benefits for life and their computer was not programmed to end payments to her until she died.

According to the Daily Mail, Mrs Clark said, "After I got healed in January 2006 I went to the doctor to check it out with him. He said wait six months.

"But after four months I felt uncomfortable taking benefits when I didn't need them. I contacted the offices to ask to come off the benefits. [But] they said: 'We haven't got a button to push that says miracle.'"

She also visited a government doctor who said that she was fully fit, although he could not understand how she could have recovered. Subsequently the Government has ceased her benefits and allowed her to pay the money back by working as a carer.

She said, "We would have loved to have used the money for a good cause. But it wasn't ours to spend. It can't be often that a government department gets a complaint about unwanted cash."

A spokesman from the Department for Work and Pensions said: "Each case is treated individually. When a customer contacts us to say they no longer require or need to claim benefits we ask for a letter of confirmation for security reasons."