Ryan

Living Proof

Ryan's Story

Ryan was diagnosed with epilepsy at age six. During his sophomore and junior years at Upper Columbia Academy, the convulsions raged out of control. Instead of every five months, Ryan was having a convulsion every three days.

Ryan’s doctors began eliminating things that triggered convulsions, such as bright lights and fast movements. Even intense sunlight could cause a convulsion. Television and video games were taken away altogether. Ryan dedicated more time to running; his outlet and source of enjoyment.

Then the doctors told Ryan he couldn’t run anymore because the risk of his having a convulsion at the wrong time was too great.

“I was really, really angry. At this point I turned my back on God,” Ryan recalls. One night Ryan demanded to know why God allowed him to suffer. God answered him through a dream. In his dream, Ryan was walking through the halls of UCA. All around him, his classmates, friends, and teachers were having convulsions—everyone except Ryan himself. “It showed me that God has a purpose for me, that He chose me. I thank God that I have epilepsy instead of my friends,” Ryan said later. Ryan’s relationship with Christ grew stronger than ever before.

Only a week later, Ryan learned that his doctors wanted him to withdraw from school. They said it was impossible for him to keep up with his schoolwork, as each convulsion all but wiped his memory.

The news was devastating. Ryan told his parents, “I don’t have anything anymore, except my friends. They’re all I have left. If you take my friends away, I have absolutely nothing.” They prayed and decided to leave Ryan in school.

Ryan set out to prove the doctors wrong. Every convulsion erased about two weeks of his memory, forcing him to re-learn information over and over again. His teachers stuck with him every step of the way, working with him after school hours and even during breaks. At the end of the year, his lowest grade was a C. The doctors were astonished—for Ryan, it was proof that God was helping him.

It has been seven months since Ryan’s last convulsion, the longest stretch of time without one in three years. His doctors have no explanation. He is currently spending his senior year at UCA enjoying friendships, excelling at schoolwork, and growing closer to God.