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Learning by Accident
- A Caregiver's True Story of Family, Fear, and Hope
- Narrated by: Susannah Jones, Dennis Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
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Learning by Accident
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Summary
On a sunny spring day, in an ordinary kitchen, Rosemary answers an unexpected phone call. A car has hit her husband, Hugh. Rosemary arrives at the hospital just in time to see him before he's rushed into surgery. Thinking of their twin daughters, Rosemary pleads with her unconscious husband as he lies on a gurney. "Don't you leave me Hugh Rawlins. Anna and Mary need you. I love you." Overwhelmed, but determined to bring Hugh back home, Rosemary leans on family and friends as Hugh endures two emergency brain surgeries, a coma, and a confused awakening. When he finally opens his eyes, his vacant stare, the absence of his soul, hits her like a jab in the chest. She moves alongside his bed as he travels from the ICU to the medical surgical floor, and then to the acute brain rehab center, shepherding her two girls while trying to suppress the implosion of her own heart. Everything Rosemary learns about brain injury shocks her system anew. A large chunk of Hugh's skull has been removed and put on ice in the hospital freezer.
Hugh, once an athletic business executive, needs to relearn the most basic activities like brushing his teeth and putting on his clothes in the right order. He has no short-term memory, and a myriad of symptoms she has never heard before: pocketing, left neglect, and loss of executive function. With his strong character, management salary, and athletic resilience, Hugh once supported the family in nearly every way. Rosemary's task of holding their lives together while helping him heal feels daunting enough, but she cannot counsel or lean on the one person she needs most - her husband. Through a series of episodes, from heart-rending to ridiculous, Rosemary and her teenage daughters play out their lives in a cyclone of uncertainty. Hugh is a different man, yet oddly the same stubborn husband she remembers. Rosemary tells a friend she's having an affair without cheating on her husband. Slowly, Hugh's athletic tenacity resurfaces as he achieves a remarkable recovery, but Rosemary unravels from constant stress, somehow sure that disaster lurks around every corner. Hugh is getting better. Why is Rosemary falling apart?
Learning by Accident is a heartwarming story of family love and commitment, and the secondary trauma that remains with caregivers after all the hard work is done. Touching and triumphant, Learning by Accident celebrates how shedding fear and starting over can lead to peace, and in that place of peace, possibilities appear, and lives flourish.
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What listeners say about Learning by Accident
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- georgia mann
- 27-09-23
Fantastic
Absolutely inspiring,
Such an insight into brain injury and what friends and family mean to you in times of need
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- suli cuffe
- 18-10-23
An insightful account of living with someone recovering from a traumatic brain injury
A broad recollection of recovery from TBI from a spouse’s perspective, encompassing the children’s view points too. A humbling account of human grit and resilience.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- eleniki
- 23-04-24
informative
This story held my attention mostly, though the roller coaster of ups and downs was sometimes almost contradictory. I like this narrator, so that helped me relate to it.
Hugh is an amazing guy. He achieved his goal of CFO, but the writer's much simpler goal was not realised. No remorse. I hope that piece of work who almost destroyed four lives reads this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- linda
- 26-05-22
heart wrenching
gripping and a must to finish,knowing its factual and true,gets you invonved with the family shows love and determination
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- sfids
- 20-02-23
Inspirational
A brilliant story! So inspirational!!
I did notice the app repeated a sentence at one point lol, but other than that it was perfect!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- nikki ravenscroft
- 21-05-23
heartbreaking, inspiring and absolutely brilliant!
amazing how well she could right this considering its based on true events.
not my typical type of book but I was gripped and found myself praying for this family myself.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- kate
- 13-03-22
A brilliant story of survival after a brain injury
This book is truly inspirational and gives hope to anyone with a disability :)
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- kathrynblades
- 22-10-22
Enjoyed
Great story of determination to overcome terrible injuries and great family support, I really enjoyed this book
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