In the fall of 1972, John Erickson was 16 years old, and things were not going well. It was his ninth emergency visit to a hospital in the last four years, and he lay unconscious after a seizure at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. The doctors didn't know why their efforts continued to fail, but they finally told his parents nothing more could be done. A priest arrived to administer Last Rites. As a last-ditch effort, Erickson's parents approved a high-risk procedure in the hopes of buying their son at least a little more time. And miraculously, it did. Young John emerged from that procedure, which had finally been successful, and began the journey of learning to live as a legally blind person. Along the way he would discover God's love through the people around him and ultimately come to understand a purpose for his ordeal. This is his story, shared in the hopes of encouraging others to find faith in the midst of life's greatest challenges.