After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival - Hardcover

Fisher, Robin Gaby

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316066214 ISBN 13: 9780316066211

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2008

Synopsis

On January 19, 2000, a fire raged through Seton Hall University's freshman dormitory, killing three students and injuring 58 others. Among the victims were Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos, roommates from poor neighborhoods who made their families proud by getting into college. They managed to escape, but both were burned terribly. AFTER THE FIRE is the story of these young men and their courageous fight to recover from the worst damage the burn unit at Saint Barnabas hospital had ever seen. It is the story of the extraordinary doctors and nurses who work with the burned. It is the story of mothers and fathers, of faith and family and the invisible ties that bind us to each other. It is the story of the search for the arsonists--and the elaborate cover-up that nearly obscured the truth. And it is the story of the women who came to love these men, who knew that real beauty is a thing not seen in mirrors.

About this title

About the Author:

Robin Gaby Fisher is a nationally acclaimed news feature writer with The Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey. She has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a member of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. Three students died and 58 were injured in the January 2000 fire that arsonists set in the student lounge of Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Newark Star Ledger reporter Fisher tells the story of the two most badly burned survivors (roommates Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos), proceeding from the devastating fire through the grueling medical treatment into their life-affirming future. A medical education and a detective story unfold within this consistently dramatic account, as Fisher joins a reporter's curiosity and objectivity to a near-familial access to the principals. Unsparing in her description of the hard path to recovery (The gruesome nature of the work meant that few ever became old-timers in the occupation of treating burns), Fisher takes the reader inside Saint Barnabas Burn Center, where the charismatic director of the burn unit, Hani Mansour; the nurses; the physical and occupational therapists work miracles, celebrating victories and agonizing over setbacks. Honest and intimate in her account of the stress of distraught parents, the intense strain upon marriages and relationships, the prolonged suffering and multiple surgeries of the survivors and the evolving friendship of the accidental roommates, Fisher conveys a deep respect and compassion for all involved—except the arsonists. She succeeds in making what might have been yesterday's news into today's inspiration. (Aug.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0316066214
• ISBN 13: 9780316066211
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 261