Naked tears -- Roots -- Growth -- Sports -- Saints -- Michel -- Nola -- Rebirth -- 165 Days -- Failure -- Disbelief -- Into the unknown - the odyssey -- Resolve -- Losing control -- Darkness -- Compassion -- Being the light -- Gratitude and service -- Fatherhood -- The beauty of being broken.
Summary:
"In 2011, three years after leaving the NFL, Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal disease that takes away the ability to move, talk, and breathe. Doctors gave him three years to live. He was thirty-three years old. As Steve says, he is now tenyears past his expiration date. His memoir is the chronicle of a remarkable life, one filled with optimism and joy, despite the trauma and pain and despair he has experienced. Writing using eye-tracking technology, Gleason covers his pre-ALS life throughthe highs and lows of his NFL career with the New Orleans Saints, where he made one of the most memorable plays in Saints history, leading to a victory in the first post-Katrina home game, uplifting the city, making him a hero, and reflected in a nine-foot bronze statue outside the Superdome. Then came his heartbreaking diagnosis. Gleason lost all muscle function, he now uses Stephen Hawking-like technology to communicate, and breathes with the help of a ventilator. This book captures Gleason and his wife Michel's unmatched resilience as they reinvent their lives, refuse to succumb to despair, and face his disease realistically and existentially. This unsparing portrait argues that a person's true strength does not reside solely in one's body but also inthe ability to face unfathomable adversity and still be able to love and treasure life"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.