(Clearwisdom.net) I am 52 years old, and live in Lianjia Village, Zhangshe Township, Pingdu City, Shandong Province. I started practicing Falun Gong in April 2002. I used to suffer from severe pulmonary tuberculosis and was once diagnosed as being terminally ill. Without Falun Dafa, I would not be alive now, and my family wouldn't be so harmonious.

Back in 1997, I often had fevers and coughed up blood. I assumed it was only inflammation in my throat and didn't take it seriously. I simply took some anti-inflammatory tablets. Even medical exams at the hospital didn't indicate a problem. Later my fever persisted, and I started to spit up blood. I began to have trouble breathing, and then realized that the problem was serious. My family persuaded me to be thoroughly tested, so I had a CT scan, which showed that I was in a late stage of pulmonary tuberculosis, and I had to be hospitalized. After forty days of hospital treatment the symptoms seemed to stabilize, but over the following two years, the symptoms recurred again and again, and each time I had to be hospitalized, and the symptoms were worsening.

In the spring of 1999, my health started to badly deteriorate. I continually spat up blood, and experienced unbearable pain. Soon I was not just spitting blood, but coughing out the rotten flesh from my lungs. A hospital diagnosis showed that my lungs looked like chicken-wire, littered with holes. The largest hole was as big as a ping-pong ball, and my lungs were almost totally rotten. The doctor told my family that no doctor could cure me. "Get ready for his funeral," he said.

Because I continually felt like I was suffocating, I wasn't able to sleep for a single night in the four years between 1999 and 2002. Instead, I had to half sit and half lie down. As I couldn't leave my bed, my wife and daughter had to take care of everything for me, including administering medication and injections. My family used up all of our savings trying to cure my illness. My wife had to seek financial help from our friends and relatives, and our debt skyrocketed. As we couldn't afford the hospital bills, I had to take the medications at home. By this stage I had turned into a bag of bones. At 5'9" tall, I weighed a mere 35 kilograms (77 lbs.). I looked like a ghost, and even doctors were shocked when they came to give me injections. As a matter of fact, eventually none of them would come.

Seeing the sadness and exhaustion of my wife and daughter, and thinking about the struggle I had to go through each day, I felt I'd rather die. Nevertheless, every suicide attempt I made was stopped by my family members, so I wasn't able to fulfill my wish.

Things just kept getting worse, and both my wife and my older daughter showed the symptoms of coughing. They both were diagnosed with the same illness as mine. As soon as I heard this, I fainted. When I woke up, I felt that my life was an endless dark tunnel, and that devils were trying to push me over the edge of a cliff.

April 23, 2002 was a turning point in my life. A Falun Dafa practitioner came to my home to introduce Falun Dafa to me. While he was explaining to me what Falun Dafa was, I felt my whole body warming up, and it was very pleasant. He left me an audiotape of Master Li's lectures as well as the book Zhuan Falun.

The day after I listened to Master Li's lectures, I was surprised that I stopped spitting blood! My health was improving gradually. On the seventh night, when I was about to fall asleep, I saw Master Li, and I was very happy. Silently pressing his fingers on my chest, Master Li seemed to be measuring my chest, finger by finger. I felt very comfortable as Master Li's fingers were passing over. The next morning, I was able to get out of bed. As I studied the Fa [Law and principles] and practiced the Falun Dafa exercises, I experienced tremendous changes in my body. I got off my bed and attempted to walk. One step, five steps, ten steps, I started to walk longer and further. One day, when I was walking outside my home, our neighbors were all stunned, "Lian Zhongping can walk outside!?" Everyone praised Falun Dafa when they learned that it was Falun Dafa that saved my life.

Four months later, a fellow practitioner invited me to go to another practitioner's house three miles away to study the Fa. I hesitated, and my family was unsure if I could walk that far, because I was just starting to recover from my illness. Finally I decided to go. On the way home, I felt as if someone was pushing me. I didn't feel tired at all, and I was very happy. As soon as I arrived back home, I knelt down in front of Master Li's picture. My eyes were full of tears. I was so grateful, grateful to Master, and to Falun Dafa from the bottom of my heart. Falun Dafa gave me a second life. Master pulled me away from the brink of death.

Born in a poor farmer's family, I never attended school and was unable to read. So at the beginning, I could only listen to Master's audiotapes or ask my family members to read the book to me. During the group study when it was my turn, I had to pass because I couldn't read. I was very unhappy about this, so I made up my mind, "I must learn to read Zhuan Falun." I picked up the book. It was full of words, and I knew none of them. I asked Master to teach me. Simply with this thought, I felt that I could recognize most of the words as I opened up the book. Except for a few words, I was able to read a whole page! Day and night, I kept reading the Fa. In as little as four months, I was able to read Zhuan Falun and other Falun Dafa books as if I was fully literate!

Witnessing the miracles I experienced, everyone in Lianjia Village was astonished. Young or old, everyone knows that I was officially diagnosed with a terminal illness, but recovered. Everyone knows that I was once illiterate, but now I can read all of Zhuan Falun.

To wake up those who have been confused by Chinese official propaganda, and to let more people know the truth of Falun Dafa, I'm sharing with you this personal experience of mine.