Salire: A Posthumously Published Memoir About One Woman's Defiance in the Face of Sickle Cell Disease
Gail Campbell Woolley in Egitto, 1996. Tempio di Abu Simbel. Gail ha in mano un ankh o simbolo della "chiave della vita".
"Ho deciso presto di vivere la migliore vita possibile, non importa quanto dura".
Dopo essere stata diagnosticata con l'anemia falciforme all'età di sette anni e le fu detto che sarebbe morta prima di raggiungere i 35 anni, Gail Campbell Woolley si svegliava ogni mattina con il suono del famoso orologio di 60 Minutes che ticchettava in fondo alla sua mente.
Dalle immersioni subacquee ai safari ai viaggi in ogni continente tranne l'Antartide, la Woolley e suo marito Howard si rifiutarono di lasciare che la sua malattia dettasse le sue aspirazioni o i suoi piani, anche quando gravi complicazioni minacciarono di bloccare le sue attività verso la fine della sua vita. Nonostante gli ostacoli significativi, raggiunse il successo accademico, un'impressionante carriera da giornalista, un lungo e amorevole matrimonio con il suo fidanzato del college, e la capacità di lasciare la sua inconfondibile impronta su ogni persona che incontrava.
Woolley’s powerful story not only inspires readers to follow their dreams no matter the roadblocks they face, but it also raises awareness about suffering from sickle cell, a painful, often overlooked disease that primarily affects people of color. In sharing her story, Woolley hoped to shed light on this genetic condition that affects an estimated 100,000 people in the United States alone.
SOAR: A Memoir is the posthumous publication and the last item on Woolley’s bucket list, which her husband Howard was committed to making happen. It will move readers to root for this irrepressible, quietly heroic woman and will support people with rare diseases and others to reassess their own approaches to life. “The last few years of Gail’s life were very hard on her and she endured incredible pain” comments Howard. “I learned to treat and see my incredible wife each day as if it were the first days of our marriage. I believe my attitude helped both of us all along our journey together.” Sickle cell disease affects millions of people worldwide. It is most common among people whose ancestors come from Africa; Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Turkey, and Italy; the Arabian Peninsula; India; and Spanish-speaking regions in South America, Central America, and parts of the Caribbean.
This book will support the fact that you are not alone, and can be supported by hearing the testimonies of others, and by sharing your own journey with them, to help ease some of the emotional pain. “I was inspired every day by how Gail was determined to live her life so full and with abundance. I learned a great deal about how to live in the present. If Gail was reading a good book, it was not the time to ask her how she was feeling, but the time to live in the present and ask her about the joys of the book itself.”
Gail Campbell Woolley (1957-2015) è cresciuta a Washington DC, e le è stata diagnosticata l'anemia falciforme all'età di sette anni. Ha studiato giornalismo e relazioni internazionali alla Syracuse University e ha lavorato come reporter per il Washington Star, il Baltimore Sun e il Washington Times prima di iniziare una carriera nelle relazioni pubbliche aziendali.
