Author: Frank Zaccari
Publisher: Frank Zaccari, Create Space
About the book: It is the phone call every person lives in fear of receiving. There has been an accident and your loved one is paralyzed. A spinal cord injury is the single most devastating and life altering event. Based on a true story, Michael and Donna were young, successful, in love and planning their life together. That life was radically changed by a tragic car accident. Now a wheelchair user as a quadriplegic, with limited movement, constant infections and multiple surgeries, doctors projected Michael's best case life expectancy to be five years. See how this young man battles through his injury and spends his five years making a lasting impact on hundreds of people. It will make you realize what can be accomplished when a person does not let circumstances dictate their life.
Excerpt from Five Years to Live:
With terror in his voice, he said, “I’m not going to walk again, am I?”
“We don’t really know yet, like I said…”
Michael angrily cut her off “Answer the god-damn question. I’m not going to walk again am I?
“I don’t know Michael.” Tears began to will up in his eyes, and he looked at her, begging for an answer.
After she wiped the tear from her eyes she said “The odds are not in your favor.”
“We don’t really know yet, like I said…”
Michael angrily cut her off “Answer the god-damn question. I’m not going to walk again am I?
“I don’t know Michael.” Tears began to will up in his eyes, and he looked at her, begging for an answer.
After she wiped the tear from her eyes she said “The odds are not in your favor.”
My Thoughts: When I first started reading this book, I kept waiting for the lightning to strike. Because of the title and the cover, I figured this was going to be a tear jerker. Surprisingly it was a book full of hope and perseverance.
We meet Michael and Donna before they start dating - when they are young and the world is their oyster. They have dreams and things they want to accomplish and when they meet, their worlds seem to mesh. Planning on getting married and starting a new job, Michael sets out on a road trip for work which ends in disaster. In the fog and rain, on a New Jersey turnpike, he hits a disabled car that hadn't been moved off the road properly. As you can tell by the cover, he breaks his neck and ends up in a wheelchair. After 8 painstaking months in the hospital, he sets out on a new course, and a new life. He hopes to share it with Donna, but knows the life they dreamed of is now not possible.
There are a lot of great quotes and inspirational sayings through out the book - the one that probably hit me the most with some things going on in my family right now was - "Remember this, the people who are the hardest to love are usually the ones that need love the most."
Author Bio:
Frank Zaccari is a native of western New York. He received his bachelor’s in finance from California State University at Sacramento after serving as a military medic in the United States Air Force. He spent more than two decades in the technology industry, holding various positions from account representative to CEO. He also spent time specializing in turn-around management of companies under $100 million. Zaccari left the industry to provide primary care of his children, purchasing a small business that was more accommodating to his family. He presently owns an insurance agency in Sacramento, where he currently resides. “Five Years to Live” is not his only book for sale. He has also written, “When the Wife Cheats,” “From the Ashes: The Rise of the University of Washington Volleyball Program,” and “Inside the Spaghetti Bowl.”
Websites & Links:
http://www.frankzaccari.com/
Purchase Link:
~I received a complimentary ebook of Five Years to Live from Providence Book Promotions and Partners In Crime Book Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Five Years to Live
Publisher/Publication Date: Frank Zaccari, CreateSpace/Oct 2012
ISBN:
245 pages
Genre: Family/Relationship
