a must-read that I wanted to share with all of YOU!

Every now and then, we come across a story that tugs at our hearts and this would be one of those stories. After reading a little about this family's worst fear, come true...I knew I wanted to learn more about this courageous family and their story of strength! Now that I have my boys, I often think how fortunate we are to have two, healthy boys and that if something were to happen, would I be strong enough to handle whatever came our way?

This family had to endure such heartache and had to watch their son barely cling to life for months...the way they leaned on each other for support is a story that MUST be shared!

For me, it hit hard because in this book, his father deals with letting go of the son he knew and learning to love the son Anthony has become, post-heart attack.

This is a MUST-READ and it will have you hugging your children a little tighter each night. RESURRECTING ANTHONY:
A True Story of Courage & Destination
By Linda Cole and Tony Cole

The Cole's story:
“Courage is the one telling trait that allows us to soldier on in the face of life’s greatest challenges,” writes Linda Cole. “We never know who we are capable of becoming until we are put to the test.” In this remarkable story RESURRECTING ANTHONY: A True Story of Courage & Destination (Alexandra Publishing, January 2011) authors Linda and Tony Cole find themselves stretched beyond anything they could have ever imagined when their 12-year-old son, Anthony, declares to a friend “I have no pulse” and collapses on the school playground.

It takes paramedics 13 tries to shock Anthony back to life, only to discover that the healthy, athletic boy has had a heart attack caused by a rare abnormal electrical pathway in his heart. It took four to five minutes to resuscitate him which deprived his brain of oxygen setting into motion a chain of medical events that ultimately resulted in global traumatic brain injury.

Drawing courage from their family and faith, the Coles face the enormity of Anthony’s situation and search for answers that will give them back their son. Ever the pragmatist, Linda plans for all of Anthony’s day-to-day care while Tony intensifies his efforts to coach his boy back to the person he was before his heart attack. Driven by the need to make progress before the window for optimal recovery closes, they begin an experimental treatment hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), to restore whatever function Anthony has left.

Slowly, glimpses of Anthony emerge, a light in his eyes, a brief smile, and one day, his first words since his journey began – “yeah, baby!” – inspired by cheerleaders during a football game on TV.

Anthony’s incremental progress leads to a series of personal revelations for his father. Tony’s test is to understand his new Anthony, whose greatest gift now is the ability to live totally and completely in the moment, the riveting heart of this tender tale. “I realized I must let go of my first Anthony in order to accept and love this new and different one,” Tony says.

“This was not an easy story to tell,” writes Linda Cole. “We found the courage to tell it because we hope that those in crisis will learn how to cope, how to be open and accepting of offered help, and how to advocate for needed services. We hope to inspire people to summon the courage they need to persevere, to commit without reservation, to adapt. We hope that others might learn from our mistakes and gain from our progress. We wrote this book and created the “Personal Courage SeriesTM” as a vehicle for people who have experienced life changing crisis to share their stories, learning and hope.”

The book also includes helpful “Toolbox” or takeaways for living through crisis which includes organizational advice for dealing with the maze and mountain of paperwork that results from hospital and insurance bills. It also has an indispensable directory of resources that includes contact info for groups such as: Brain Injury Association of America and the National Association of the State Directors of Developmental Disabilities. For more information please go to www.resurrectinganthony.com

Tony and Linda Cole are the founders of Anthony Cole Training Group established in 1991 to help sales people and their organizations drive consistent and predictable results through a unique, multi-faceted approach custom tailored to each organization.

To get a copy of your very own:
RESURRECTING ANTHONY:
A True Story of Courage & Destination
By Linda Cole and Tony Cole
Alexandra Publishing
January 2011
$14.95
ISBN: 978-0-9843226-0-2

The Cole Family's Personal Courage Series:

The Personal Courage Series® of books is the voice of "ordinary" people who have extraordinary stories to share. Each book will contain various short stories that address a specific life crisis such as loss of a partner, a serious medical condition like Alzheimer's or cancer, or emotional and psychological conditions like eating disorders, addiction and abuse.

Anyone can submit their own story of personal courage for a chance to have the story featured in one of the books. Details here: http://resurrectinganthony.com/courage.html.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

All opinions are 100% mine!