Several years ago, I was helping with research into northern elephant seals when I was charged and bitten in the head by a male elephant seal. The wound was large—the bite had partially scalped me. There is a very strong belief about the infectiousness of any type of seal bite, and because I was part of a university research team, I had to go to the hospital to have the wound cleaned and stitched up. 

Fortunately, I was working with my niece, who is also a Christian Scientist. She was the one who took me to the hospital. As it was some distance away, we had lots of time to pray and share spiritual truths. Once we had cellphone coverage, I talked with a Christian Science practitioner and asked her for treatment through prayer. 

There was never much pain, but at one point, I felt very lightheaded. I said “the scientific statement of being” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 468) out loud and stuck firmly to the truth of each line. By the time we got to the hospital, I felt completely normal. There was no pain, and the bleeding had long since stopped. I was able to fill out all the paperwork with no trouble. I told everyone there that I was a Christian Scientist and just wanted the wound cleaned and closed up.