Back in the Game:
One Gunman, Countless Heroes, and the Fight For My Life
By Congressman Steve Scalise with Jeffrey E. Stern (Hatchette Book Group, 2018)
Genre: Non-Fiction
Via: Library
Pages (print): 281
That one small entry wound belied a massive, mostly internal hemorrhage that was about to kill me. I’d be dead in a matter of minutes, unless someone with some kind of x-ray vision happened to show up and was somehow able to see all the bleeding that couldn’t be seen. I needed a miracle.
In gripping You Are There fashion, Back in the Game tells what happened when one man opened fire at a baseball practice for Republican members of Congress on the morning of June 14, 2014, wounding five and nearly killing one: Louisiana congressman and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. And how Scalise fought his way back to the people’s House.
It’s Scalise’s moment by moment account of not only what happened to him, but of those who emerged in the seconds after the shooting began and worked to save his life and the lives of his colleagues and teammates when a lone gunman attempted the greatest political assassination in U.S. history.
The gunman came within a hair’s breadth of succeeding.
Kimber: Let me just say right out of the kennel that Back in the Game is a book about heroes. Like:
- Special Agents Dave Bailey and Crystal Griner of the Capitol Police Dignitary Protect Division.
- Alexandria police officers Kevin Jobe, Alexander Jenson and Nicole Battaglia.
- Safety officer Wayne Bryant, Alexandria Fire Department.
- Major Brad Westrup, M.D. and member of congress (R-OH). Combat surgeon who served in Iraq.
- Paramedic Richard Krimmer.
- Congressman Cedric “The Franchise” Richmond (D-LA), Scalise’s long-time friend.
- Democrats who immediately gathered to say a prayer “when they heard Republicans had been attacked and I’d been shot.”
- Scalise’s wife, Jennifer.
What’s Good and Great
Back in the Game is the riveting true story of how one man defied overwhelming odds and came back from the brink through a series of “coincidences” that are nothing short of incredible. It’s also about all that’s good and great in America. Total strangers who dropped everything to help a guy they’d never even met: A grievously injured congressman from Louisiana.
Not to Brad. Brad’s reaction was the opposi6te of relief. He was looking at almost the exact same wounded he’d seen 10 years before, on that solider in Iraq who’d become such a burden for him, the one he’d never been able to shake. The same wound in the same part of the body.
It’s a book about kindness. Generosity. Selflessness. And courage. We’re talkin’titanium spines here.
It’s about people “from both sides of the aisle” showing up to give blood in Scalise’s home state of Louisiana. It’s about Republican and Democrat members of Congress who turned out to donate blood. “It didn’t seem to matter to people what my politics or religion were,” writes Scalise. “People wanted to help… all over America, people leapt into action. This is what America is about. This is what America does. People brought out the very best in one another. Many different people, from different backgrounds, joined together for this one cause. E pluribus unum: out of many one.”
Jaw-Droppin’
It’s a book about miracles. And we’re not kiddin’. We’re talkin’ jaw-droppin’ here. Everything from timing to resources to personnel to “just happened to be there.” And “the most effective early warning system of all – concerned citizens.”
My blood pressure started dropping, which meant, in turn, it was going to start getting harder and harder for my brain to get blood. That meant I was now at imminent risk of brain damage. And then, of death. Brad was the only one who could have seen it. Because he had seen it.
Kimber: Jumpin’ T-bone steaks! That is incredible! What are the odds that a doctor with trauma experience just happened to be on the field that day and just happened to have seen almost the same exact injury Scalise survived – and knew exactly what to do to give the congressman a chance at surviving?
It’s almost as if an Unseen Hand guided the rescuers that day:
- What are the odds the 911 phone lines would jam, and instead of slowing the response, it sped the response and enabled first responders to reach Scalise even faster?
- Why did the seas part for Richard Krimmer, every light turning green just as his ambulance got to it en route way to the field?
- Or that the call to the trauma center came during the one part of the day – a shift change – when two teams overlapped, so Scalise had twice the resources and twice the support upon arriving at the hospital.
- How do you explain a Park Police pilot “bending the space-time continuum to make two trips to the hospital in less than the time it should have taken to make one?”
Much more.
Writes Scalise, “This book has been me trying to show you how many miracles had to happen for me to have this second chance and how many people played parts in those miracles. It’s me trying to explain just how much those prayers mattered, how powerfully I felt them… Some of those people were in the room that day, but thousands were not, were not able to hear how grateful I was, and how I feel, really, that I owe my life to them.”
Rebirth, Resilience
It may sound corny. But Back in the Game is the true-life story of how a near-tragedy led to triumph and a rebirth of hope. Drenched in courage and resilience and gentle, self-deprecatory humor, Back in the Game is the kind of the book that makes you want to stand up and cheer. Pump both fists. Break out your happy dance. Even if you have two left feet. (Hi, Mom.) Belt out God Bless America. At the top of your lungs. On your tippy-toes. Or share your T-bone steak. (Kimber: Wait. Let’s not get crazy here, okay?)
Amazing
This book is amazing, corn cob or no. We loved it! Read it start to finish in one day.
So if you’re looking for an inspiring, uplifting read to light up your Independence Day, consider Back in the Game. It’s one of the most incredible and inspiring books we’ve read all year.
Pages & Paws 