cover image Genesis: A Portrait of a Spinal Cord Injury

Genesis: A Portrait of a Spinal Cord Injury

Stephen Thompson. Sunstone Press, $26.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-86534-318-4

While in an ICU, in rehab and in recovery at his parents' home after an accident left him partially paralyzed with a spinal cord injury, Stephen Thompson often asked himself, ""Why did this have to happen to me?"" But at the same time, he concluded, ""Why not me?"" Having survived ""fears, anxieties, lack of choices, and humility of dependence,"" Thompson recounts his experiences with both excellent and incompetent health care professionals, regaining various capabilities (like eating and walking), flirting with nurses, befriending other patients, interacting with his family and old friends and, most of all, his alternating despair, depression, triumph and acceptance. Chatty, honest and inspiring, Genesis: A Portrait of a Spinal Cord Injury will be welcomed by survivors of serious injury and their loved ones. Photos. ( July)