Survivor: One Man's Inspiring Journey with HIV, Hemophilia & Hepatitis C - True Story of Courage & Resilience for Patients, Caregivers & Medical Professionals

Vaughn's life could have been scripted in the tradition of Joseph Campbell's hero monomyth. From the outset, you root for Vaughn as he overcomes bullying and his self-restriction from the activities he loved because they were too dangerous for someone with his hemophilia. Just as he has begun to find inner strength, his life is devastated by the batch or batches of bad blood containing HIV, which is still not his lowest point.The real strength of Vaughn's writing is his ability to make you forget that he was battling the deadly viruses and deadly bleeding condition. In order to accomplish all Vaughn has accomplished HIV, Hep C and hemophilia had to be an afterthought to him... and his book reflects his thinking. Through the book you learn about the joys of off-road driving, rock climbing, mountaineering, motorcycle racing and all the other brushes with death that Vaughn warped into fantastic reasons to live (as well as database analysis). When reading you imagine yourself without fear, simply going out and doing all of the things the back of your head tells you that you cannot or should not do. Mid fantasy, imagining yourself capable of removing your fear, Vaughn writes a paragraph talking about throwing up his anti retroviral therapy multiple times a day and the fantasy comes crashing down around the reader into an unbelievable reality.Vaughn's book builds a story of an entirely normal man with a very diverse set of interests and accomplishments, but the intermittent reminders of how tenuous his hold on life is compared to the reader's makes his story anything but ordinary. Survivor is clearly two different stories. There is one story that is of a normal life, where a teenager pushes his limits, finds his way through the women he loves and builds his career slowly and steadily through hard work. The second story is one where the fear of death and pain is completely removed from an otherwise normal, if not timid individual and what is possible if you throw caution to the wind and simply go for it. The two stories woven together create an inspiring story applicable and relevant to all of us. We all have limited time to live, and reading Survivor is an excellent reminder to get off the couch and get moving... regardless of our current struggles or lingering demons.