Thank you for reading my personal story. I started following Marcus in 2007 when he first appeared on the Glen Beck program discussing his amazing Never Quit story and since then I’ve followed him actively and find him truly to be one of my all time inspirations and heros. Also in 2007 is when my story of struggle began. I was diagnosed in the same year with Crohns Disease and Liver disease and couldn’t really understand why because I was so young (25) and have never abused my body to substances or anything abusive. I was on 22 medications, injections, and biologics and had to get a central line put in my chest. In 2010 I was so severe that i had to have my large intestine completely removed which was a 4 month recovery on a wound vac. Following that surgery, i had 6 major stomach reconstructions over the course of 7 years and was hospitalized for over 150 days combined in Philadelphia. I was blessed to have a healthy daughter born in 2008 before all the surgeries took place. My liver functions were always elevated over the years and my dr and I kept a close eye on them. I was proud of myself and lost 100 pounds after all the surgeries, harmful medications, etc. Fast forward to November 2018 and my liver suddenly spiked in functions and blasted up to pre-transplant numbers. It really came out of nowhere, i had turned yellow (jaundice) and i was desperate to avoid transplant because if you do find a match you have to be on anti rejection drugs for the rest of your life and a new liver in your body only lasts approximately 25 years. I knew i had to fight it and bring my numbers down and fast! I had consulted with my nutritionist and she said to strictly eat foods that repair the liver and detox teas that will immediately help. I also had to start an immunotherapy drug steroid which I have been on the past and it is extremely harmful to your body with long term serious side effects such as vitamin D depletion, osteoporosis, glaucoma, insomnia, weight gain, etc. i had successfully brought my liver functions down from 900 to 33. I was not out of the woods yet however, i had began chronically falling and fainting at home and even in public stores. I had a stomach ulcer and lost alot of blood, fainted 4x back to back was stuck in my bathroom for 2 hours, and became severely anemic and my hemoglobin dropped to 7, a regular person has around 12-14. Everytime i stood up I would immediately faint and would experience tachycardia and rapid heart rate. This did involve some EMT phone calls and hospital stays. On my lowest day when my hemoglobin dropped to 7, i had to crawl in my house to get from point A to point B. If I didn’t crawl, to keep my heart rate down I would faint and could injure myself. I kept fighting, although extremely difficult to function with such little blood. At my lowest, a good friend of mine had been pushing me in a positive direction to Never Quit, “Stephanie you remember Marcus kept drawing that line in the sand, every little victory got to another victory and so on & so on”- she was Rosie, the girl I met when I got to meet Marcus in NYC on 10/2017 at the Patriot Tour. She knew how much he means to me. I was very grateful for Rosie that day, my family who had been tirelessly helping me, my friends and community who supported me – I had fallen one last time and was out of everything- no energy, nothing there, but I dug down deep to find my finger to push my apple watch and get my dad & EMTS there- January 2, 2019, I finally got my blood transfusion that day, actually 2, which I needed so badly. I am very grateful for blood donors, without them I would not be able to function right now. I have continued to improve since that day I am receiving many iron infusions and its a fight to get back to where I was. Life hands you cards, you have to take them, even suffering, and battle your way through. I’m grateful for Team Never Quit and its podcast, community for embracing tough times and empowering us to have the Never Quit mindset and ditch the victims mentality. January 2, 2019 was one of the most difficult days of my life, but you adapt and overcome through strength and determination/drive. Much love to Marcus and his family. We will never quit on you like you never quit on us. God Bless.