Katie McKenna, a physically fit, early 20s, NYC dweller decides to go for a quick bike (bicycle) ride before work one morning. At a light she signals she is she is turning, and she thinks the truck driver in front of her sees her in his mirror. He doesn’t, and McKenna is horribly crushed as both front and rear tires roll over her and her bike.
That doesn’t sound funny, but McKenna (who narrates the audiobook) had me laughing out loud during the first part of the book. If anyone is going to overcome these types of injuries, it will take a personality like hers that can see the funny side of tragedy, and a support system like she had. Her family was THERE for her through long months in the hospital and after discharge. They were so attentive and supportive; it seemed too good to be real.
McKenna and her family consumed a LOT of alcohol. She enjoyed bar hopping before the accident, and her parents began sharing a bottle of wine with her in her hospital room each evening. I don’t have anything against drinking in moderation, but nowhere was there a hint of warning against mixing booze with the strong, constant, necessary pain meds she was on. After discharge and still on pain meds, the drinking continued. I hope no one gets the wrong idea from this book that this is okay; it can be deadly.
McKenna made an attempt to answer the question, What about the truck driver? Although she devoted an entire chapter to this topic, she mainly discussed her feelings of being bitter or not toward him. No resolution was mentioned. Did she take legal action against him, or decide not to? This was never addressed. Her injuries left her in permanent pain and fundamentally changed who she is. McKenna should have let us in on how she came to terms with this. All we see is an unflagging determination to be positive.
This is a riveting book that I stayed up way too late listening to.
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