"Matt Brown was flyng across the ice, just as his coach wanted. He gained speed as he chased the puck toward his defensive zone. Just as the puck settled between Matt's skates, he was bumped from behind by an opposing player and crashed headfirst into the unforgiving boards. As he struggled to move his arms and legs, an ominously painful silence fell over the arena. In a split second, star hockey player Matt Brown was suddenly paralyzed from the neck...

Written in alternating chapters, a mother and daughter describe the accident that nearly killed the daughter and left her paralyzed, and their determination to allow her to live life to the fullest despite her physical limitations.

In 1972, at the age of 21, John Callahan was involved in a car crash that severed his spine and made him a quadriplegic. A heavy drinker since the age of 12 (alcohol had played a role in his crash), the accident could have been the beginning of a downward spiral. Instead, it sparked a personal transformation. After extensive physical therapy, he was eventually able to grasp a pen in his right hand and make rudimentary drawings. By 1978, Callahan had...