# S E5: Our Spirits Are Stronger Than Our Bodies

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/stories-from-a-stranger-7836603/s-e5-our-spirits-are-stronger-than-our-bodies
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/stories-from-a-stranger-7836603/s-e5-our-spirits-are-stronger-than-our-bodies.md
Podcast: [Stories from a Stranger](https://stenobird.com/podcast/stories-from-a-stranger-7836603)
Published: 2026-06-08T07:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://mgln.ai/e/1598/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/rss.art19.com/episodes/e719854a-2a33-4dc5-b631-34dfb140ccd9.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/1598/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/rss.art19.com/episodes/e719854a-2a33-4dc5-b631-34dfb140ccd9.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/stories-from-a-stranger-7836603/episodes/s-e5-our-spirits-are-stronger-than-our-bodies
Duration seconds: 2564

## Resource

Hunter meets three people whose lives were upended by devastating illnesses. They share their stories of survival and how they refused to let sickness get in the way of living their lives. Meet this episode's strangers: - Sandra survived a catastrophic stroke and fell into a coma. Doctors told her mother that she would never wake up. Her mother refused to let doctors remove life support and proved Sandra could still hear by asking her to squeeze their fingers and move her foot. Sandra describes a visit to “paradise,” where she was told, “You have a purpose to fulfill,” before being sent back to her life. Now she walks Central Park for miles, has completed the New York City Marathon, and uses her story to show other stroke survivors that “it’s not the end.”  - Cheri was a healthy 18‑year‑old dancer when a mysterious autoimmune disorder suddenly took away her ability to walk and move. Doctors told her parents to prepare for the worst as treatments failed, but Sherry—fully lucid inside a body that couldn’t respond—refused to accept that her life was over. She grieved the loss of the old version of herself, yet slowly shifted from “why me?” to “why not me?” as she rebuilt a new life. - Gil reflects on losing his closest friend, Tom, just before the pandemic and the years it took to process that grief. Then a routine blood test led him to a cancer clinic, where he spent ten days convinced he had only months to live before learning he had a chronic, slow‑moving leukemia instead. Those days staring “into the abyss” forced him to ask whether his life’s work really mattered, and then finding out he was not dying led him to not take life for granted. Topics: - Stroke recovery and near-death experiences - Power of family advocacy in hospitals - Overcoming autoimmune paralysi…

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## Transcript

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