10 years after being sentenced to death from advanced-stage lung cancer
“When the doctor gave me the verdict that I wouldn’t live more than two months, I was really scared…,” Toni recalled. “I immediately thought about what would happen to me in the afterlife with all the sins I had committed.”
“How selfish…!” I spontaneously remarked.
“Why selfish…?” Toni replied.
“Didn’t you think about your wife? Maybe she’d start going through her list of exes,” I teased.
“That might be the case if she were your wife,” he said candidly.
“My wife is amazing,” he continued, raising both of his thumbs.
“Didn’t you think about what would happen to your kids if their father wasn’t around anymore?!!” I angrily asked, because he seemed to only be thinking about himself. I ignored his teasing of me.
“I didn’t think about anything except being scared…,” he replied, lost in thought.
“Yes, I was really selfish. Only thinking about myself. At that time, I was truly a terrible person.”
Toni had been diagnosed with lung cancer, and it was already in an advanced stage.
“Look at this,” he said, showing me a CT scan image of his lungs, still stored on his phone.
There was a 10-centimeter tumor in his lungs, attached to his heart, with fluid filling his left lung. The doctor’s biopsy results showed it was malignant, a type called adenocarcinoma. The doctors couldn’t do much in Toni’s case of lung cancer.
I shuddered at the thought of how it must have felt. Even though I’m not from the medical field, I could imagine how difficult it would be to breathe with lungs in that condition.
“Didn’t you feel anything before?” I asked, surprised by how quickly the death sentence had come.
“I often felt short of breath. I thought it was normal because my life was a mess,” Toni explained.
1998 was the peak of Toni’s “wild” lifestyle. He and his friends were trapped in a life of glamour and partying. Drug use, alcohol, and all forms of anti-mainstream life were part of their daily routine.
There wasn’t a day without partying.
Even when his wife was about to give birth to their first child, he only arrived at the hospital when she was already being wheeled into the operating room. She had been trying to contact him for days to tell him she was about to give birth, but he never responded. This was their first child, and of course, his wife desperately wanted him by her side at such a moment. The baby, too, seemed reluctant to come out, as if waiting for its father. Eventually, the doctor decided to proceed with surgery for the safety of both the mother and child.
“After everything that happened to me, I realized how terrible I was to my wife and my neglected child.” It was something that had never crossed his mind before.
“Sometimes, the regret still comes back, especially when I see how kind my wife continues to be, even though I was so awful to her.”
But that incident didn’t make him stop. He continued living his reckless life.
It all started because of business. Entertaining business partners with various pleasures eventually became a habit he couldn’t shake off. His drug use led to multiple run-ins with the police. His business fell apart, and his household finances collapsed.
Only his wife remained, standing by him when everything fell apart.
As his financial situation worsened, his health began to deteriorate. In June 2012, Toni felt increasing pressure in his chest. The doctor at the time diagnosed him with tuberculosis, which seemed reasonable considering his chaotic lifestyle.
“At that time, fluid had already filled my lungs,” Toni explained.
The doctor drained the fluid from his lungs, but because there was so much, it couldn’t all be removed at once. One extraction could remove up to 3 liters. The process had to be done gradually, every two weeks, as per medical procedure.
But despite the fluid being drained, Toni’s breathing didn’t improve. The pain and pressure in his chest remained. The doctor became suspicious and ordered further tests, including a CT scan. That’s when it was revealed he had lung cancer, with a 10-centimeter tumor in his lungs.
“At that point, I thought I would be a prisoner to the medical world,” Toni said.
With the cancer diagnosis, he knew he would be dealing with doctors, hospitals, and medications.
But even in this case, the doctor could only continue draining the fluid from his lungs; there was little they could do about the cancer itself.
The doctor told him he had only two months to live.
“That diagnosis made me feel even worse. Sometimes the pain was so intense that I didn’t know if I was still alive or being tortured in hell.” (“May God protect us from that,” he added.)
It was a difficult day for Toni and his family. He described how utterly hopeless he felt at that time.
His entire family gathered, staying close by, spending time talking, crying, praying, trying to make sense of it all, discussing shattered dreams.
“The hopelessness was reflected in the eyes of those who loved me. And at that moment, I knew I had to fight. The doctors may have given me no hope, but I wasn’t going to let this disease defeat me.”
That was Toni’s resolve at the time.
When all dreams and hopes seem to have drifted away, lost in the vast ocean, it feels like our life is just a memory spinning in the same place, with all our adventures suffocating us, dragging us towards death’s corridor.
On the night of his death sentence, Toni felt as if he saw a star, and unconditional love guided him toward a bright light; the love of his parents, his siblings, his incredibly patient wife, and his children, who were still too young to understand.
“That’s when I thought to start talking to God,” said Toni, who had previously lived his life as if ignoring Him.
He prayed to God for hope, to reignite his optimism to live.
“I felt like I was living in two worlds. Both of them were filled with the same loneliness and pain that frightened me,” he explained.
Toni and his family had resigned themselves to waiting for death.
But reflecting on death gave him strength to live when he had no other choice. Even though he believed all the pain, fear, and failure would vanish when death came, the thought of death still terrified him.
“Going to the next world alone, not knowing what would happen there… to be honest, that’s really scary,” he said softly, in despair.
“I felt like I could see my death on the horizon, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was like staring into a dark tunnel with no end, no light. It was truly a terrifying time.”
Then, one day, Toni’s brother heard about Dr. Warsito Purwo Taruno and his research on a cancer-fighting device.
“I felt a huge glimmer of hope, even though I didn’t know if it would work,” Toni said.
In the depths of his struggle, his mind trapped in prolonged darkness, he had felt there was no more hope. After his great hope had been crushed, and he tried to accept his fate as determined by God, he realized he hadn’t entirely lost hope.
“Back then, I made a pact with God that if I recovered, I wouldn’t waste my life anymore, and I’d do my best to do good deeds.”
Those were Toni’s thoughts, even though the new hope he found was still vague.
He began reflecting on all the wrongs he had done to the people who, despite everything, had never left his side, even in his darkest moments.
Perhaps God had placed hope not in his fate or future, but in these moments in Toni’s life.
In July 2012, nearly a month after receiving his death sentence, Toni began his days using the ECCT device. That anti-cancer vest became his only hope for survival.
“I did once follow the doctor’s advice and tried chemotherapy. But I gave up,” Toni said.
“It was unbearable. It didn’t heal me; instead, my whole body, not just my chest, felt like it was falling apart after the chemo.”
Since then, Toni has relied solely on Warsito’s cancer vest.
The two months the doctor initially gave him passed. The years rolled by, and Toni was still breathing the air on this earth. He continued monitoring his cancer’s progress at the hospital, first monthly, then every three months, then every six months, and now just once a year.
The initial days of using the device were very tough, but the hospital’s examination results motivated him. Not only did his breathing improve, but his overall health also got better. The fluid in his lungs stopped accumulating after three months of using the ECCT device. Regular CT scans at the hospital every six months to a year showed the tumor was shrinking.
Looking at his face, there were no signs that he had once been a cancer patient. Toni’s face was full of energy and joy.
And, ‘hey,’ he had a tattoo on his arm.
“This has a story,” Toni explained.
“Before the doctor drained the fluid from my lungs, my body was completely smooth.”
His statement left me wide-eyed, surprised to hear such a bold confession about his “smooth” body.
“Oh, really??!!” was all I could say at that moment.
“The doctor’s ‘handiwork’ on my body made that smoothness disappear,” he continued, unaffected by my shock.
The scars left by the fluid drainage left Toni’s body with less-than-perfect marks. Three rounds of fluid drainage left three scars that marred his previously smooth skin. Some might even consider it a physical deformity.
Maybe that’s why he wanted to cover it with tattoos, to mask the pain caused by the cancer inside his chest.
Toni’s brother took him to a tattoo studio, as one way to help ease the physical and emotional scars.
Each tattoo on his body has a meaning, filled with messages of courage and hope. Messages that can only be written with tears, pain, and sweat. Messages that scream to all of us that everything in life is possible, and nothing is impossible.
“The first tattoo is the Aquarius symbol because I’m an Aquarius,” said Toni.
“Wow, same as me! I’m an Aquarius too,” I responded spontaneously. “No wonder we aren’t a match!”
“What does astrology have to do with love compatibility?” Toni argued.
“It’s deeply connected because it’s forbidden love,” I answered jokingly.
“That’s right. Everything forbidden is fun,” his grin reflected the memories of his past, which may have been misleading.
I imagined how painful it must have been to get a tattoo, considering the tool used to ink and color the skin involves needles dancing across our skin. Just getting a single shot makes me shiver.
“Getting a tattoo is much less painful than cancer,” Toni explained.
“Especially after being sentenced to death. The fear makes the body feel even more pain.”
Day after day passed, and each second brought new hope. Toni felt like he was given a second chance at life. He felt deeply indebted to Dr. Warsito.
“When everyone else gave me no hope, and I was left in pain, waiting for death, this vest saved my life,” he recalled.
So, when his son, now in college, heard his professor say that Warsito was a fraud who pretended to cure people from cancer but failed and had fled the country, his usually quiet and shy son bravely spoke up.
“Excuse me, sir, may I speak?” his son boldly said. “My father was sentenced to death by a doctor because of aggressive lung cancer, with only two months to live. Now my father is alive and has recovered thanks to Pak Warsito’s vest. And Pak Warsito hasn’t gone anywhere. I just took my father to see him yesterday, and we met him.”
The professor fell silent.
The entire class was quiet.
“I can prove my claim. I have all the medical records from the hospital,” his son continued.
“I can prove that Pak Warsito is not a fraud. My father owes his life to him.” By this point, his son was already in tears.
His heart burned with anger when someone who had saved his father’s life, and restored hope to his entire family, was being accused of being a fraud.
Cancer teaches us a profound understanding of what truly matters in life.
“In 2018, I was declared cancer-free by the hospital,” Toni said. His full name is Antonyus Hertanto.
The biopsy results from the remaining tumor tissue showed ‘fibrosis,’ or scar tissue, similar to a healed wound. The ECCT device had turned the deadly cancer that once gripped his heart into scar tissue, like a wound that had healed.
Everyone is powerless to stop time from slipping away. The leaves turn from green to yellow, waiting for the wind to blow them away. Seasons change, life comes and goes.
Toni’s experience fighting cancer teaches us that life is unpredictable. Life doesn’t belong to us, but to God, the Creator.
“I got a second chance at life because of Pak Warsito,” Toni said. “And I’m not going to waste that chance again.”
Warsito was the one who brought sunlight to brighten his life from the dark corridors of death.
The sun will always shine on time, whether its presence is wanted or not. Even when the night hides it, the next day, it will rise again, bringing new hope and a new life.
“One day, when I still wasn’t fully recovered and was frequently visiting the hospital, my wife brought me food because she was worried I’d have to wait a long time in line. At that moment, I saw a woman alone with her sick child. She looked very weak.”
“I gave her my food. She said she hadn’t had the chance to eat at all. And she ate so hungrily. I secretly cried because I felt so happy seeing her eat, while also regretting all my past mistakes,” Toni said.
Opportunities to help others, like Toni’s battle with cancer, don’t come every day. Not everyone has such an opportunity. But there are many small chances around us every day, like when Toni gave his food to that woman.
He became more aware that the joy of giving and doing good deeds brings great happiness to our hearts.
“At that moment, the regret in my heart deepened, and I felt so foolish for having searched for happiness in the wrong ways all this time,” Toni said with deep remorse.
The man before me had tears in his eyes. Cancer had already claimed the lives of all his friends from his wild partying days.
“There were nine of us, wasting our lives just to have fun,” he recounted.
“Eight of my friends died because of cancer. The cancer caused by our own lifestyles ended up taking our lives one by one.”
“I’m the only one left out of the nine, saved after meeting Pak Warsito.”
“I’m still searching for answers to the mystery of why I’m the only one God has given a second chance to live,” Toni said, lost in thought.
Cancer gives us a new awareness of our past lives through its unique lens. Death is certain for all of us, but how we live our remaining days is up to us.
“One thing I really want to do is repay Pak Warsito for his kindness. But as an ordinary person like me, sometimes I don’t know what I can do for him.”
Toni looked at me, hoping for an answer.
I, too, sat silently, lost in thought. Because I’m just an ordinary woman with no special abilities.
“Seeing you healthy as you are now, I think that’s already a wonderful gift for Pak Warsito. I’m sure of it,” I replied.
I always see the sparkle of happiness in Pak Warsito’s eyes whenever he meets people who have regained their health thanks to his ECCT device.
Knowing that someone can live easier because of your existence—that’s the true meaning of happiness. Being the answer to someone’s prayer is a tremendous success.
Success isn’t always measured by medals and victories. It’s measured by the struggle in sincerity.
The strongest people aren’t always the ones who win, but those who never give up. Everyone has limitless opportunities. The best are those who keep moving forward, believing that the sky isn’t the limit.
Leave the rest in God’s hands.
About ECCT: https://c-techlabs.com/electro-capacitive-cancer-therapy-ecct-devices/
