[Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day] My Elderly Father’s Amazing Changes Through Practicing Falun Dafa

(Minghui.org) My father was diagnosed with a malignant tumor when he was 89 years old. The doctors predicted he had only four months to live. Now, four years have passed, and my father is 93 and alive and well. What caused this miracle? It’s because he practices Falun Dafa. What seemed like a misfortune turned into a blessing: Not only did he survive, but he became healthier and stronger. We all witnessed the miraculous and wonderful power of Falun Dafa.

That September, about two months before his 89th birthday, my father’s voice became hoarse. His grandson took him to the hospital and the doctor said there was a tumor in his throat. They couldn’t tell if it was benign or malignant until they removed it and tested the tissue. Not wanting to upset my father at his age, his grandson told him it was just a small polyp and nothing serious, and that a simple surgery would take care of it. My father agreed to the operation.

My husband’s classmate is the hospital director and quickly arranged for the surgery. I took care of my father during his hospitalization. I told him, “Sincerely recite: ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ and everything will be fine.” He agreed. The surgery went smoothly, and afterward he didn’t feel much discomfort.

However, the doctors found not only a tumor in his throat but also in his esophagus. The tumor was sent to the provincial medical university, which confirmed it was malignant, late-stage cancer. A week later, the hospital director and his primary doctor recommended radiation and told us: “If he doesn’t have radiation, he won’t survive over four months.”

We four sisters and two brothers discussed it and decided not to proceed with the treatment. Given his advanced age, we felt radiation would be too hard on him. We didn’t want him to suffer more, nor did we want him to know he had cancer and become mentally defeated. We all agreed not to put him through radiation.

The doctors strongly objected and were very upset. Seeing how firm we were, they made us sign a waiver, stating we would bear all the consequences. Before my father was even discharged, my sister bought burial clothes for him.

When he returned home, he was like a different person, depressed and lifeless, as if he had lost hope. Although we didn’t tell him he had late-stage cancer, he could sense something was wrong because we visited him so frequently and cared for him. He became gloomy and unable to cheer up. I told him, “Please practice Dafa. Study the teachings and do the exercises and you will recover. Your health is a blessing for your children.” He agreed.

My father practiced Falun Dafa before the persecution began in 1999, because I practiced. A month after I began practicing, the ten chronic ailments I had disappeared. I felt light and happy every day, and I was filled with hope. Seeing my transformation, my father had a good impression of Dafa and began practicing.

But after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Dafa in July 1999, my father stopped practicing. I went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa and was persecuted repeatedly, I was illegally arrested, unlawfully detained, and sent to forced labor camps and prison. I was persecuted for 12 years. This pained my father greatly.

Even though he was in his mid 80s, he traveled around trying to rescue me. He went to the police station, the prosecutor’s office, and the courts, telling them, “Falun Dafa practitioners are good people. My daughter is innocent. Don’t do bad things by persecuting good people, it won’t end well for you.” He couldn’t rest while I was imprisoned. Despite his age, he went on many exhausting train trips to visit me in prison.

After I was released, my father was deeply affected by the severity of the persecution I endured. He was constantly afraid I would be arrested again. If I didn’t visit him for a few days, he called my sister to see where I was. Afraid of the persecution, he didn’t resume practicing. But when his own health declined, and given his age and the limited ability of modern medicine to help, he ultimately chose to return to practicing Falun Dafa.

About two months after he’d resumed practicing, my father underwent a remarkable change. His health improved significantly, and his smile returned. Even many wrinkles on his face faded. However, not everyone in our big family knew how much he’d changed. So in November, for his birthday, my sister hosted a big celebration at a restaurant with many tables and invited the entire family and our friends, even those who rarely visited. My brother-in-law is a doctor who believed this might be my father’s last birthday, so he rushed around taking care of the banquet, wanting to show extra care while my father was still alive. Others thought my father didn’t have long to live and took turns taking photos with him.

My father has now practiced Falun Dafa for four years. He is healthy, energetic, and vigorous. One would never guess he’s in his 90s.

When my husband and I went to visit my father one day, he wasn’t there. His bicycle was in the yard, so we knew he must have not have gone out. We noticed a ladder under the large chestnut tree behind the house and a little dog staring up into the tree. Following its gaze, we saw my father standing on a branch over two meters off the ground, holding a saw in one hand and hugging the trunk with the other. He was trimming branches!

It was truly incredible: a man in his 90s still climbing ladders and trees and pruning branches! Most people his age can’t even care for themselves, yet he was more capable than many young folks. Going up on the roof to clear the chimney is nothing to him. He also digs in the fields and farms. Others might not believe this, but it all really happened. It’s all thanks to Falun Dafa’s blessings!

Just two weeks ago, my husband and I went to his home and saw my father meditating. We didn’t disturb him. After he finished, he said, “Look at my face.” We saw scabs on his forehead and cheeks, and my husband asked him what had happened. My father said, “Last night, while riding my bike downhill, I was blinded by a car’s headlights and flew off the road into a ditch. The handlebars hit me in the ribs. But I remembered I’m a practitioner and immediately asked Master for protection. I knew I’d be fine.”

With that firm thought, he got up, with only a few scratches on his face and slight pain in his ribs, nothing serious. He wasn’t scared. He pushed his bike out of the ditch and rode home. When my brother saw his bloody face, he panicked and urged my father to go to the hospital. My father replied, “No need, I’m fine.” When we saw him the very next day, the scratches had already scabbed over. A few days later, the scabs fell off, and his skin was clear. For someone his age, even a minor fall can lead to broken bones. Yet my father, in such a serious accident, remained unscathed. Isn’t that a miracle? Master protected him and averted any real danger.

My father often says, “If I didn’t practice Falun Dafa, I would’ve been dead long ago.” He says this to everyone, even the police. He’s not highly educated and doesn’t know many Chinese characters. When he reads the Dafa books, he writes down the characters he doesn’t recognize and asks us what they mean when we visit him. He has a kind heart, and even before he practiced, he spoke up for persecuted Dafa practitioners.

We are grateful for Master’s compassionate salvation, which extended my father’s life and allowed him to truly return to Dafa in his later years. Our family and friends all witnessed the miracle of Falun Dafa.

(Selected submission in celebration of 2025 World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)