While many of us are insomniacs against our will and are looking for ways to defeat it, this man has accepted it like a champ. After hearing his story, you’ll be tipping your hat to him.

Neil Epstein gets an average of twenty minutes of sleep per night. He says on a good day, he can capture an hour a night. There are also times where he will go days without any sleep at all, including cat naps.

The 54-year-old married father of four has been experiencing this wacky sleep pattern since the age of six but got a formal diagnosis as a pre-teen. No one knows why. He struggles to fall asleep and to stay there.

Epstein learned to accept his condition and roll with the punches some decades ago, adapting his lifestyle to it. Caters News caught up with him and in this video, he discusses all the activities he’s able to engage in with the extra hours in his day.

Piano lessons, courses in French, writing stories and poetry, and art. Since Epstein’s life pretty much centers around living without sleep, he’s become a helpful source for others who dealing with their own insomniac tendencies. He spends time communicating with people all over the world about how to cope.

Nearly ten years ago, Epstein penned an essay for The Guardian about his sleep-deprived life. As a baby, his sleeping habits were normal. Things changed as he got older. He shared that he would often pace his room at night, and by morning, could not function in school because he was cranky and exhausted.

His mom tried to get help, but nothing ever worked. Over time, he grew up lonely and irritable. Epstein also shared that relationships were a challenge because girlfriends couldn’t deal with the difficult sleep patterns. Finding his wife changed his life.

However, being married has not been without its challenges. They don’t share a bed:

“We don’t share a bed anymore and I yearn for the day when we can. Instead, when Julia goes to bed at 11pm, I pad around the house, or work until 2am or 3am. It’s pointless trying to sleep any earlier.

When my children were babies, I’d hold them in my arms and watch them drift off peacefully – it was like watching a miracle. I’d hold them close to try to absorb some of the blissful sleep that I craved. We have four children now and they’ve grown up understanding that Daddy is awake at night. It meant I could do the nightshift when they were babies.”

To help him deal with the mental and emotional havoc that sleep deprivation has caused, Epstein sought professional counseling, which has helped tremendously. What else helps? Working at night and the radio.

Insomnia is so ingrained into his person that Epstein has embraced it. Listen to him explain how much he’s adjusted to this condition by watching this video. How many of us could function like him?

Do you find Epstein’s story to be remarkable? Are you aware of any other severe cases of insomnia? How would you live if you were in this man’s shoes?