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Writer Worthy here shares an extraordinary memoir of coma-like states and extensive pain, ameliorated by her determination and faith. In 2011, a failed sinus surgery left her with trigeminal neuralgia, a very rare condition commonly known as "Suicide Disease." Its depressive symptoms include nearly constant physical agony and unpredictable periods of total blackout. Yet she recalls numerous lifesaving, miraculous events. In the eponymous free fall, down a steep hillside overlooking a dangerous cove, she found herself trapped in a patch of quicksand. Suffering multiple injuries, struggling to move, she watched the tide rise. Then Leon, a former priest, heard her muffled cries, rushed to find her, and helped deliver her to a nearby hospital. Such agonizing but blessed occurrences wrought intensified religious awakening.
Worthy and her husband, Chuck, wrote emotive poems, included in the narrative, despite her uncontrollable periods of "unawareness." At one point, she became a dancer, as evidenced by photographs included. With updated medications, her pain is reduced, though she still experiences unaware episodes. But her spiritual sensitivity has guided her to a new life path that, with Chuck's constant support, would eventually include the creation of this heart-rending, inspiring account.
Before her disabilities took hold, Worthy, with advanced computer skills and an unusually high IQ, had been, with Chuck, a leader of Washington state's Worthy Musical Ministries, holding eighteen talent contests. In recent years, she has determinedly studied documents and other relics of her past that underpin this emotive account. Recognizing that she will never be free of the physical and mental effects of her rare condition, she nonetheless has courageously composed an engrossing saga that will inspire and motivate anyone with chronic, possibly incurable ailments. Worthy's narrative offers an admirable, etheric vision for a wide range of religious groups and individuals seeking new direction as they handle their own life challenges.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review