A New Lease on Life:
A Story of Faith Family and Baptism
Most stories don’t start with: “And then he lay in a coma for three days.”
But sometimes, life gives us wake-up calls we never saw coming. And in the middle of the most terrifying moments, God’s presence becomes undeniable.
This is a story about healing, hope, and the powerful decision to say yes to Jesus through baptism.
Kurt is a husband, father, and follower of Jesus. Raised Catholic, he was baptized as an infant and spent his early years attending church regularly with his family. While he grew up with a foundation of faith, it wasn’t until adulthood that he began to truly experience a personal connection with God.
That shift happened 20 years ago when Kurt met his wife, Sarah. Together, they began attending a Christian church and building a new spiritual foundation as a family. After relocating to a new city, they visited several churches before a friend invited them to check out Eastside. Kurt, Sarah, and their two daughters instantly felt at home.
“My 12-year-old usually sits with us in service, and my 9-year-old loves going to Kidside,” Kurt said. “It’s been great for all of us.”
For months, Kurt had been thinking about getting baptized—this time as an adult, by his own choice. It wasn’t about rejecting his past. It was about stepping freely and intentionally into a deeper relationship with God.
“I wanted to be closer to God and be a better role model for my family,” he said. “And our older daughter had been wanting to get baptized too. I thought it would be incredible to do that together.”
Kurt planned to wait for the perfect moment. He wanted to invite extended family and friends and make it a celebration. But as he sat in church last February, hearing the message, he felt a strong prompting in his spirit.
“I seriously considered getting baptized that day,” he recalled. “But I talked myself out of it, thinking it would be better to wait until everyone could be there.”
What happened next changed everything.
Later that afternoon, while watching the Super Bowl at home, Kurt suddenly collapsed. His heart had gone into ventricular fibrillation—a life-threatening condition that causes the heart to beat erratically and stop pumping blood. Moments later, he went into cardiac arrest.
Thankfully, Sarah immediately called 911 and began CPR until the paramedics arrived. First responders shocked Kurt’s heart with a defibrillator, stabilized him, and rushed him to the hospital.
For the next three days, Kurt lay in a coma.
Doctors warned his family that the prognosis was grim. Most people who experience what Kurt went through don’t survive. And those who do often face lifelong complications. His loved ones waited, prayed, and held on to hope.
On the fourth day, doctors implanted a defibrillator device in Kurt’s chest. Later that same day, he miraculously woke up.
“I was told my recovery was nothing short of a miracle,” Kurt shared. “Aside from two incisions for the device, I had no damage. My organs, my mind—everything was functioning. There was no explanation for why my heart did what it did, and no explanation for why I recovered the way I did either.”
Kurt and his daughter getting baptized.
Just six days after his cardiac arrest, Kurt was released from the hospital.
A few weeks later, on March 16, fully healed and full of gratitude, Kurt and his daughter stepped into the water and were baptized—together.
“God saved my life,” Kurt said. “He clearly wasn’t done with me yet. I feel like I’ve been given a new lease on life. And being baptized with my daughter—that moment meant everything to me.”
Kurt’s story is a powerful reminder: faith isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about trust. It’s about obedience. It’s about listening to that quiet voice prompting you toward Jesus—and having the courage to respond.
If you’ve been considering baptism, we’d love to invite you to learn more. Baptism is a celebration of new life and a public declaration of trust in Jesus. And there’s no better time to do it than Easter Sunday.