I led a normal life, had many friends, enjoyed riding my bike and climbing – until the time just before my high school graduation. During that time, I suffered my epileptic seizure. And it wasn´t my last one. The seizures became more and more frequent, and finally the doctors diagnosed me with “epilepsy.” I went through many check-ups and had to take medication, but nothing changed. Rather, it got worse. In just one day I had four seizures. I had to quit school. My doctor told me that I would never be able to get a driver’s license, go to parties or keep riding my bike as I always used to. Now, I was not able to do any of the things I loved. It was frustrating and I did not want to live like that. Out of this sense of frustration, I started doing things that were forbidden to me: I went to even more parties and started smoking cannabis. But I still lived with the fear that these seizures would never go away. Then I heard from someone that people had died while having an epileptic fit. I started asking myself: What would happen, if I did not wake up again after my next seizure? At that time, I had nothing to do with Jesus or faith, but my parents were Christians and they prayed for me a lot. Some time later, someone prayed for me at a Christian event – all at once, my depression and fears were gone, but also the epilepsy never occured again, although this disease is medically incurable. In that moment I knew that God did a miracle in my life. I have been free from attacks for over 20 years now, and even the doctors cannot find symptoms of this disease anymore. They don’t know why. But I do: because Jesus healed me; and just like 2000 years ago, He still heals and changes lives. Thanks to Him, I can be a father of a family today, I am able to work as a nurse for Parkinson patients in the neurology department in Tübingen. There, I can help people who experience similar fears and despair, and I can give them hope.

- Friedhelm