Author(s): Hester Rumberg

NZ Biography/Memoir

In 1993, Judith and Michael Sleavin and their two children set out to live their dream: to circumnavigate the world on their sailboat Melinda Lee. But one night, a freighter off the coast of New Zealand altered its course by a mere ten degrees. And changed everything. After 44 hours in the water, with a back broken in several places and paralysed below the waist, Judith miraculously survived. Doctors would say later she suffered one of the worst cases of post-traumatic stress syndrome ever documented. News of the collision made headlines around the world but, distraught, Judith never talked to the press. Her body was broken and so was her soul. Twelve years later Judith turned to her best friend, Hester Rumberg, and asked her to write what was too painful for Judith. The result is a gripping, unbelievable yet true story of one family's love, of profound loss and of a remarkable woman who decided to live when others might have decided otherwise. It is an account of survival and a meditation on the strength of friendship and community. It is a universal tale of how any of our lives might be unexpectedly altered, how we might have to change what we hope for and how we can move forward in times of tragedy.