Just consider what occurs when we die. That can be really frightening just thinking about it. That is why we want to hear fairytales that remind us of the magic and beauty we have here on Earth.

When someone is suffering for an extended period of time, it is difficult for them, but it is also a difficult time for family members. It’s easy to lose hope and decide that it’s better to let go than to cling to the pain…

Martin Pistorius, a 12-year-old South African boy, has a one-of-a-kind story. He became ill unexpectedly and was diagnosed with a degenerative condition, which left him in a vegetative state.

Pistorius was confined inside his own body for 12 long and difficult years.

He believes he awoke when he was 14-15 years old, a few years later when everything happened, but everyone around him assumed he was unaware of the perception around him. He heard his mother say once that she hoped he was dead, and he knew she was saddened seeing her son lay there in vegetative condition, silently suffering on the inside…

We learn what life was like for Pistorius, who was locked with his thoughts for nearly a decade, in the following riveting NBC interview.