Blink of an Eye What Dying Taught Me About Living

Acclaimed by Bill Bryson as "spellbinding and harrowing," the story of one woman's dramatic recovery from life-threatening illness

At the age of 38, Danish scientist Rikke Schmidt Kj rgaard is struck down by an acute bout of bacterial meningitis. Weeks later, she wakes from a coma in intensive care to find herself "locked in," unable to show she is conscious except by blinking her eyes. Despite a mere 5 percent chance of survival, she makes a miraculous recovery and returns to the world--painfully learning how to breathe, move, eat, and speak again, even resume her work as a scientist. The Blink of an Eye is a celebration of love, family, and every little thing that matters when life is in the balance--by a writer uniquely positioned to describe the journey from death back to life.

An extraordinary tale of one woman's fight from death back to life--and a testament to the power of the will to survive

It was New Year's Day. Rikke Schmidt Kj rgaard, a young mother and scientist, was celebrating with family and friends when she was struck down with a sudden fever. Within hours, she'd suffered multiple organ failure and was clinically dead.

Then, brought back to the edge of life--trapped in a near-death coma--she was given a 5 percent chance of survival. She awoke to find herself completely paralyzed, with blinking as her sole means of communicating with the outside world.

The Blink of an Eye is Rikke's gripping account of being locked inside her own body, and what it took to painstakingly relearn every basic life skill--from breathing and swallowing, speaking and walking, to truly living again. Much more than an account of recovery against all odds--this is, at its heart, a celebration of love, family, and every little thing that matters when life hangs in the balance.

"A highly personal, deeply affecting account of what it is to be yanked from a happy, well-ordered life and thrust into a sudden, unimaginable, terrifying darkness. Rikke Schmidt Kj rgaard has done the impossible of putting into words an experience that would seem to be beyond expressing."--from the foreword by Bill Bryson

It was New Year's Day. Rikke Schmidt Kj rgaard, a young mother and scientist, was celebrating with family and friends when she was struck down with a sudden fever. Within hours, she'd suffered multiple organ failure and was clinically dead.

Then, brought back to the edge of life--trapped in a near-death coma--she was given a 5 percent chance of survival. She awoke to find herself completely paralyzed, with blinking as her sole means of communicating with the outside world.

The Blink of an Eye is Rikke's gripping account of being locked inside her own body, and what it took to painstakingly relearn every basic life skill--from breathing and swallowing, speaking and walking, to truly living again. Much more than an account of recovery against all odds--this is, at its heart, a celebration of love, family, and every little thing that matters when life hangs in the balance.

It was New Year's Day. Rikke Schmidt Kjargaard, a young mother and scientist, was celebrating with family and friends when she was struck down with a sudden fever. Within hours, she'd suffered multiple organ failure and was clinically dead.

Then, brought back to the edge of life--trapped in a near-death coma--she was given a 5 percent chance of survival. She awoke to find herself completely paralyzed, with blinking as her sole means of communicating with the outside world.

The Blink of an Eye is Rikke's gripping account of being locked inside her own body, and what it took to painstakingly relearn every basic life skill--from breathing and swallowing, speaking and walking, to truly living again. Much more than an account of recovery against all odds--this is, at its heart, a celebration of love, family, and every little thing that matters when life hangs in the balance.