Iron Heart

The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead

By: Brian Boyle, Bill Katovsky

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Paperback | 15 December 2011

At a Glance

Paperback
256 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.7 x 15.3 x 2.3

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$34.75

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On the way home from swim practice, eighteen-year-old athlete Brian Boyle’s future changed in an instant when a dump truck plowed into his Camaro. He was airlifted to a shock-trauma hospital. He had lost sixty percent of his blood, his heart had moved across his chest, and his organs and pelvis were pulverized. He was placed in a medically-induced coma. When Brian finally emerged from the coma two months later, he had no memory of the accident. He could see and hear, but not move or talk. Unable to communicate to his doctors, nurses, or frantic parents, he heard words like “vegetable” and “nursing home.” If he lived, doctors predicted he might not be able to walk again, and certainly not swim. Then, miraculously, Brian clawed his way back to the living. First blinking his eyelids, then squeezing a hand, then smiling, he gradually emerged from his locked-in state. The former swimmer and bodybuilder had lost one hundred pounds.

Iron Heart is the first-person account of his ordeal and his miraculous comeback. With enormous fortitude he learned to walk, then run, and eventually, to swim. With his dream of competing in the Ironman Triathlon spurring him on, Brian defied all odds, and three and a half years after his accident, crossed the finish line in Kona, Hawaii. Brian’s inspiring journey from coma to Kona is brought to life in his acclaimed memoir.

Industry Reviews

A moving, remarkable story of the power of the mind and the body. --Mary Frances Wilkens
At times, Brian 's tale of survival sounds more improbable than possible.
At times, Brian s tale of survival sounds more improbable than possible.
It's not what people accumulate in material things that makes a nation great. Greatness comes from the good that free people do for others. On the long road back, Boyle vowed that he would give back.
A zombie, a permanent nursing-home resident, a man bound to a bed. At least, that may have been Brian Boyle's fate had he accepted the prognosis of his doctors.
Riveting....There is no better story than Brian Boyle s.

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Introduction	p. ix
Heart
Waking Up	p. 2
Hoping to Find Answers and Finding None	p. 6
A New Kind of Living Hell	p. 12
I Recognize My Parents	p. 17
Angels in the Hallway	p. 21
I Want to Die	p. 24
Garth and JoAnne Boyle	p. 32
The Smile	p. 37
The Kiss	p. 42
Throwing the Discus	p. 52
"Hello"	p. 58
Question Time	p. 64
Standing Tall	p. 77
Leaving Intensive Care	p. 81
Kernan Rehabilitation Center	p. 86
Where Am I?	p. 100
Therapy Sessions	p. 107
Witness	p. 111
Body
Coming Home	p. 118
The Track	p. 135
The Intersection	p. 142
Return to Prince George's Hospital	p. 146
Getting Back in the Pool	p. 155
Tattoos	p. 161
Concrete	p. 163
St. Mary's College Swim Team	p. 167
July Is the Crudest Month	p. 174
Bodybuilding	p. 177
Soul
My First Triathlon	p. 186
From Coma to Kona	p. 209
Epilogue	p. 240
Acknowledgments	p. 244
Afterword	p. 249
About the Authors	p. 253
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Iron Heart

The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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