Alice Couteault of Bouillé-Loretz in the Deux-Sèvres was 34 and had been progressively disabled for several years by disseminated multiple sclerosis with ataxia, dysarthria, visual disturbance, and lower-limb paresis. The Poitiers neurologists had documented the diagnosis with care.
She came to Lourdes on the May 1952 national pilgrimage. Bathed in the piscines on May 15 she was instantly cured — gait, speech, vision and limb function all returned at once. The cure remained stable across the years that followed. The Lourdes Medical Bureau and the International Medical Committee studied her exhaustively; the cure was recognised by the Bishop of Poitiers as the 55th miraculous Lourdes cure.