Ben Breedlove's video about faith inspires others after his death

By now, many of you have heard of the moving video of Ben Breedlove, the Texas teenager who suffered with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and died Christmas Day.

About a week before he passed away, Breedlove posted a simple YouTube video wherein he described his life story, the pain and frustrations of his condition and, most prominently, stories of near-death experiences he passed through. Once, he was 4 years old and suffered a life-threatening seizure. It led to a memorable peace unlike anything else in his life and serene light that hovered over him in the dark hospital hallway. "I can't even describe the peace. How peaceful it was."

Then, just a couple weeks before he died, he passed through another near-death experience. In his dream, he wore all white and felt an incredible satisfaction with his life. "I didn't want to leave that place. I wish I NEVER woke up."

Then he transitioned to his remarkable conclusion: "Do you believe in angels or God? I do."

Breedlove's presentation style was unusual. Rather than tell his story verbally, out loud, he sequentially showed his audience 5-by-7 index cards that wrote out his story, holding them in front of his handsome, often smiling face over seven memorable minutes in two back-to-back videos on YouTube.

His family found the video a day or so after he died. It was sort of his text message from the other side.

Breedlove's message, of course, went viral.

Scores of news outlets have shared his story, from People magazine to Austin TV, which reported that Breedlove's classmates at Westlake High School returned to their classes after the Christmas holiday wearing white — just as he had in one of his near-death dreams.

And, in a quiet tribute, possible only in this modern age, people began posting their stories on YouTube in the same index-card way — "My story," some have titled them, "inspired by Ben Breedlove."

One young girl calling herself Danielle Maestas1, in the vagaries of the YouTube world, got some quarter million views sharing her story of depressive illness — inspired by Breedlove. Another got more than 20,000 sharing her grief and loss of faith, and how Breedlove's inspiration had moved her back to a religious faith.

I stopped counting somewhere after 100 posted videos, but in one after another, people of all kinds, veterans, men, women, mostly young people, recorded their life stories and hopes and fears.