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For the first 18 minutes of life, David Ring was left for dead on a table against a hospital wall.

Two hospital workers glanced at what they thought was another tragedy in childbirth until a second look revealed shallow breathing. Doctors rushed to his side, administered care, and 55 years later a man who wasn't supposed to survive will visit Blount County to share why he did.

David Ring is a nationally known speaker, author and resident of Nashville who was born in Jonesboro, Ark., the youngest of six children. Because his body was deprived of oxygen at birth, he was left with cerebral palsy, a condition that makes it difficult for him to speak. That hasn't stopped this evangelist who travels 195 days of the year and has made appearances at over 6,000 churches. His mission isn't one of gaining pity from strangers. Ring, a husband, father and now grandfather says his life is blessed beyond anything he could have imagined.

He didn't always feel that way, especially as a young boy who got teased incessantly because of his speech impediment. He lost his father to cancer when he was 11; his mom also succumbed to the disease when Ring was only 14. From there he lived with various families, including older siblings.

"After my mom died, I went through some lonely times," Ring recalled via telephone as he traveled this week to Albertville. Ala. for a speaking engagement. "I wanted to die. I had thoughts of suicide every other day."

But while he was living in Kansas City, he attended a church revival. It was a Thursday night, Ring remembered. And he left there knowing his life would never be the same.

"I found the Lord there," he said. "I found a life worth living."

Something to say

It wasn't long after dedicating his life to Christ that he said the call came from God for him to preach. He talked it over with church leaders, many of whom who tried to discourage his ideas. Ring said they were just looking after him, fearing he would not be up for the challenge.

"They were looking on the outside at me," Ring said. "But God looked at my heart."

For 36 years, Ring has traveled this country and outside, using his wit, humor, honesty and longing to instill in people an attitude of joy and gratitude. He said his infliction is cerebral palsy, but we all have something to overcome.

"Life will throw you a curve ball," he said. "What are you going to do with it? It does not matter what you have been through in your life. What matters is will you let your past make you or break you?"

Ring said he was walking by the time he was seven months old, but didn't utter his first word until the age of 5. The once shy, outcast orphan from Arkansas has now been to the United Kingdom and also Amsterdam. He said most of his audiences seem uncertain they can understand his speech at first, but it doesn't take long for them to be pulled in.

"God gave me a good sense of humor in my message because when I stand up to speak and people hear me, they get uptight. They say, 'I don't know if I am going to understand this guy.' It takes me about five minutes to get into my rhythm so I use a lot of humor in my message. I just start laughing at myself. By the time I am finished, people are hanging on every word."

Despite his condition, Ring does most of his traveling solo. He said while he does get tired, he never tires of sharing his message of hope and encouragement. In 1976, he visited Grandview Baptist Church in Maryville.

He won't tell anyone that he's a victim because he's not. Nor does he hold any ill feelings toward the people who cautioned him against his mission or ridiculed him. Hate and blame have no place.

When he delivers his message at Central Point Baptist in Rockford, Ring said he wants people to come away with an uplifting energy and faith that God cares for his own.

"My message is this -- that anybody can do anything they want to if they allow God to work through them."