At 19, my life changed in an instant. One moment, I was playing a soccer game in Munich - strong, athletic, carefree. The next, I was unconscious on the floor, struck in the head by a bicycle kick, with a severe brain hemorrhage that nearly ended my life. I spent three weeks in a coma. When I woke up, I couldn’t walk, speak, breathe on my own, or move the right side of my body.I was a baby in the body of a 19-year-old.This talk isn’t just about what happened to me - it’s about what I did next.I had to relearn everything: how to walk, how to write (this time with my left hand), how to live in a body that no longer did what I told it to. I finished school. I got my driver’s license again. I went to university. Today, I work full time, train regularly, ride my racing bike, and do stand-up paddling. I live - fully and consciously.In this talk, I’ll share how I turned my greatest setback into my greatest strength. No self-pity. No “why me.” Just a relentless decision to keep going.If you’re in a dark place, I want you to know: falling is human. But rising - that’s where your story begins. When Dennis Faltermeier woke up from a 3-week coma in January 2009, things looked bad - the then 19-year-old had previously suffered an accident with severe craniocerebral trauma, cerebral haemorrhage and right-sided paralysis. He was 100% dependent on a wheelchair & the help of others and was unable to swallow, speak or think independently - the brain haemorrhage had destroyed large parts of his brain. Today he has studied, got his driving licence again, currently works at a Max Planck Institute, goes to the gym three to four times a week, outruns his father on his bike and simply enjoys the life he can lead again. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx