I've just finished this book, which was recommended to me by a very switched on girl who had told me it was about a woman who had been paralysed on the left hand side. Obviously I was immediately interested in it, downloaded it onto my kindle, and within 4 days have read it cover to cover, laughing, crying and even shouting in frustration along the way.
The story starts with a 37 year old woman (Sarah) with a high class job, a husband who works just as hard but in a less stable job and 3 kids. The first few chapters begin with dreams, which obviously Sarah is having, which gives you a background of her life including her past, how her brother died, and how her mother had become so clinically depressed that Sarah can't actually remember what her mother was like when she was a child. It was a "normal" hectic life she lead. Along the way, her sons (Charlie) school teacher had called for a meeting to discuss his behaviour as it showed signs of ADHD.
On the day that would change her life, Sarah had been driving to work and had been using her mobile phone (please note this novel is based in America, so this is allowed) and hadn't realise stationary traffic, crashed her car and ended up passing out.
When Sarah woke up, she had a tube helping her to breathe and such a bad brain injury that the right side of her brain had hemorrhaged and no longer thought that there was a left side of anything. This meant that she could no longer see things on her left side, whether it was of a room, a book, a drawing or even her body. This is called Left Neglect and made it difficult for her to get dressed, walk and even brush the left side of her head. While she was in hospital, she had intense physio, but with her living in the USA and so not having the luxury of the NHS, she had to be discharged after a while due to the insurance company not paying out after a certain time.
Also, in the time she had been in hospital, her son had been diagnosed with ADHD and so was having to deal with life with it. This is important, as it is her son who comes up with many ideas to help Sarah on her road to recovery.
The next major stage of the book, and the one I find most inspirational, was her road to recovery (I use the word recovery lightly), using something that she had done pre-accident to help her along the way. Sarah used to go Skiing when she didn't have Neglect, and she had badgered her husband to take her to the ski resort, and then had freaked out and just ended up watching. Her mother, whom she had become close to since the accident and had forgiven, had seen a handicapped skier on a board that was controlled by a tandem skier. She had enquired on how Sarah could get involved, but Sarah didn't want to swallow her pride so she didn't end up looking into it.
One day, Sarah got bored, and ended up walking into the centre which helped disabled people to ski, and had found out that her mother had gone in and filled most the paperwork out and that they were more than willing to help her get back out on the slopes, but to make it easier for her, they suggested she snowboarded rather than skied, because of the way you balanced. She took up the offer, and gradually got better at snowboarding, quit her job back home and got a job at this centre for less money but from which she could spend more time with her kids. By no means is she fully recovered, but she's living life to the full.
Reading this book made me realise all the times and tasks I have struggled with, and how I have overcome them, as well as to make me feel proud of who I am and the disability I have. The main message in the book is that you have to live life to the full, but that doesn't mean you have to have a full working body to do so. For this book to have so much belief, even though the characters are completely fictional, makes you feel like you can do anything.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It might even help people with disabilities (not just neglect, and certainly not just hemiplegia) to achieve their goals and work hard to get the life they crave and most importantly deserve. A real feel good book.
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