Walsall man's uplifting book talks of faith and spirituality in face of illness
A Black Country man has detailed his spiritual journey through his battle with serious illness in a new book.
Irvine Lewis, from Rushall, in Walsall, has penned 'Hello To Self Irvine Meet CalJah' about his near-death experience at the age of 46 when he suffered a stroke and found he had a brain tumour, with other illnesses leaving him fighting for his life.
In the book, he details his experiences in hospital after the stroke, brain tumour treatment and a life-threatening brain infection and his encounters with other patients, as well as support of his family and friends and the comfort he got from prayers.
The 58-year-old also speaks of his intimate encounters with God, which introduced him to his true identity as CalJah, and said the whole experience had led him to write the book as a keepsake for his children and to remind him of his journey.
He said: "I kept a journal during my treatments as I didn't know whether my memory was going to be any good after the treatments and later on, I decided to write this down and share my story as I am very grateful for the many people who prayed for me and helped me.
"I had some spiritual experiences as well as some out-of-body experiences and I've put them all down in this book, as well as the stories of the people who I met in hospital who, during their illness, were not so much concerned about themselves as they were about their families and the people they had argued with and wanted to say sorry to.
"I learned a lot from this experience and I decided to write the book to share these stories and, really, to inspire anyone else who has been through this type of illness as I had a big challenge to get over the mental and physical issues and this book is a celebration of overcoming that."
Mr Lewis, who is an Apostolic Christian, said he was thankful every day for his faith and how it has helped him to overcome the illness and issues he had and said he was thankful for being back to normal and fitter than ever.
He said: "The book is a path of self-discovery as we are more than we think we are and we need to discover who we are and remember that we are valued.
"When I was told about the brain tumour, I was told that most people with brain tumours didn't live longer than five years, so I got obsessed with getting past 50 and when I did, I really celebrated.
"Since then, I'm back to normal and have gone from not being able to run two steps to doing a 10k run every week and living better, so I feel much better now."
Hello To Self Irvine Meet CalJah can be bought by going to amazon.co.uk/Hello-Self-Irvine-Meet-CalJah/dp/1913905365
