Martin Pistorius, Author Of 'Ghost Boy', Describes The Experience Of Turning To God In His Vegetative State

How 12 Years In A Vegetative State Helped This Man Find God

Martin Pistorius was just 12 years old when he fell into a vegetative state due to a rare illness. Having been given a fatal prognosis, it was unexpected when, at 16, Pistorius' mind became active again, and, eight years later, for him to regain full consciousness.

Today, Pistorius is married and works as a web designer in England. While he's still unable to speak, he's written a memoir, Ghost Boy, chronicling his agonizing time of being mentally-conscious while still confined to a vegitative state.

Paralyzed from all forms of self expression, the experience led Pistorius' to establish an unwavering relationship with God. He explained further in a HuffPost Live conversation on Wednesday:

"There were many times I felt utterly alone even if there were people around me, however I always seem to pause when making that statement because while a part of me experienced the extreme loneliness and isolation, another part of me always felt the presence of the Lord."

Unable to communicate with others, Pistorius recalled that he found himself "talking to God," his only option for dialogue-driven interaction.

"Perhaps one could call them prayers rather than conversation. For me, God is always there. A constant companion," he explained. "I believe had it not been through God's hands, I would not be where I am today."Watch more from Martin Pistorius' conversation with HuffPost Live here.

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Before You Go

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
"The impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God."Clarification: The full quote, from one of Darwin's letters, carries a different sentiment.A young admirer asked Darwin about his religious views (the original inquiry is lost), and the great naturalist answered: "It is impossible to answer your question briefly; and I am not sure that I could do so, even if I wrote at some length. But I may say that the impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of real value, I have never been able to decide."
Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual...The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both." --American astrophysicist
Francis Collins (1950-)
"Science is...a powerful way, indeed - to study the natural world. Science is not particularly effective...in making commentary about the supernatural world. Both worlds, for me, are quite real and quite important. They are investigated in different ways. They coexist. They illuminate each other."--American physician-geneticist and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute
Max Planck (1858-1947)
"It was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls."--German physicist, noted for work on quantum theory
Erwin Schroedinger (1887-1961)
"I am very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world around me is very deficient. It gives a lot of factual information, puts all our experiences in a magnificently consistent order, but is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, god and eternity."--Austrian physicist, awarded Nobel prize in 1933
William H. Bragg (1862-1942)
"From religion comes a man's purpose; from science, his power to achieve it. Sometimes people ask if religion and science are not opposed to one another. They are: in the sense that the thumb and fingers of my hands are opposed to one another. It is an opposition by means of which anything can be grasped."--British physicist, chemist, and mathematician. Awarded Nobel Prize in 1915
Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."--American physicist, awarded Nobel Prize in 1965
Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)
"I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science." --German-American rocket scientist
Nevill Mott (1905-1996)
Photo Credit: University Of Bristol
"Science can have a purifying effect on religion, freeing it from beliefs of a pre-scientific age and helping us to a truer conception of God. At the same time, I am far from believing that science will ever give us the answers to all our questions."--English physicist, awarded Nobel Prize in 1977
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