Chasing Miracles, A Book Review...

The Crowley Family Journey of Strength, Hope, and Joy by John Crowley Foreword by Aileen Crowley

"A personal memoir from the family that inspired the film Extraordinary Measures, starring Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, and Keri Russell - a father's story of his determination to save the lives of his two youngest children born with a rare genetic disorder and finding hope, strength, and joy despite extraordinary challenges."

Synopsis:

"When John and Aileen Crowley learned that their two youngest children had a rare and little understood genetic disorder, they didn't hope for miracles: they made them happen.

In 1998, 15-month old Megan and 4-month old Patrick were diagnosed with Pompe disease, a rare and fatal neuromuscular disorder that affects only a few thousand children worldwide, usually leaving them with little to no muscle function, enlarged hearts, and severe difficulty breathing. The Crowleys were told to take their children home and "enjoy their short time together...there is nothing that can be done."

From his blue-collar upbringing in New Jersey, John Crowley, a recent Harvard MBA graduate working at Bristol-Myers Squibb, was just beginning to taste success in corporate America. Now he was absolutely determined to find a treatment to save the children's lives. Frustrated with the pace of Pompe research, at the age of 31 Crowley walked away from the corporate world to help co-found a start-up biotech company, focused exclusively on developing a treatment for Pompe.

Written by John Crowley with Ken Kurson (co-writer of Leadership with Rudy Giuliani), Chasing Miracles is the story of how the Crowleys set out to do "whatever it takes" against phenomenal odds to help Megan and Patrick first to survive, and then to thrive - and to keep their family, including oldest son John, Jr. together and their marriage strong. A truly uplifting and inspiring book that captures this remarkable family's everyday life, this is a memoir about life and love; about coping with adversity; and, most importantly, about what it means to never, never quit. "

What I thought of Chasing Miracles:

This book was the most inspirational book I have read all year. Even if your children are healthy, every family could learn a thing or two about not taking the simple things for granted and how to work the core values of strength, hope and joy into their family's day to day lives and become better human beings along the way. John tells the Crowley story with a humor and frankness that is very easy to relate to. I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for an uplifting memoir.

Thanks to Newmarket Press for the opportunity to review this book.

Disclosure: A copy of Chasing Miracles was given to ABCD Diaries for review purposes. We were in no other way compensated. All opinions expressed in this review are ours and ours alone.