I am 65 years old and have practiced Falun Gong for 14 years. I had a marvelous experience when I took up the practice. It gave me a second life. My elder sister learned Falun Gong first and introduced it to me. I was busy running a convenience store and did not learn it. My business was doing well. Customers praised my husband and me for being kind, easygoing, and considerate of others.

A neighboring store owner became jealous as a result. One day, my husband ran into a conflict with him while taking care of our store. When I learned of this, I ran to the store and argued with that store owner. He picked up a long sickle on one of my shelves and hacked at my thigh and waist. I fell down bleeding and was rushed to the hospital. I had a 5.7-inch long cut on my left thigh and a 3.3-inch cut to the nerve bundle near the bottom of my spine. I was transferred to Wuhan Hospital, which declined to accept me. I was transferred instead to Beijing 301 Hospital.

A doctor said to us after I was hospitalized there for 20 days, “We have tried our best. This type of nerve damage is incurable anywhere in the world.” He said it can cause lower back pain, muscle numbness, incontinence, and leg paralysis.

I was discharged and transferred to a local hospital for follow-up treatment. I met with a bricklayer who had a nerve injury from a work accident. He received several surgeries to have the nerve reconnected. His feet were deformed, curved and very thin. He was emaciated. He said his foreman could not fund his treatment. I felt miserable seeing that he had such severe consequences from only one nerve cut, while my injury was to the main nerve bundle. My elder sister came to see me and brought the book Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong. Soon after I read the book, all my pain disappeared, and I could walk again. I was in tears. The book saved me!

However, my husband forbade me from learning Falun Gong, fearing that I would be implicated in the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of the practice. My sister took the book and gave it to others to read. I had pain throughout my whole body again, and my illnesses returned. My husband was scared. I said in a weak voice, “I have become like this because you won’t allow me to learn Falun Gong. Can you take care of me for the rest of my life? Can you suffer the pain for me? I have determined to learn Falun Gong. I must learn it.”

He saw my determination and asked my sister to bring the book back. I have now practiced Falun Gong for 14 years, and I end up in tears whenever I recall this experience.