Ghost Boy

The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside His Own Body

De: Martin Pistorius

Narrado por: Simon Bubb

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Martin Pistorius's miraculous journey back from life on the brink will inspire you to celebrate life and fight for those around you.

When you lose your voice, who will speak for you? When it all seems hopeless, how do you get through each day? In the New York Times bestseller Ghost Boy, Martin Pistorius tells the harrowing story of his return to life through the healing power of love and faith.

In January 1988, a happy, healthy twelve-year-old Martin Pistorius came home from school with a sore throat. Soon, he was sleeping all day, refusing meals, and starting to lose his voice.

His doctors were mystified. Within eighteen months, his voice fell silent and his developing mind became trapped inside a body he couldn't control. Martin's parents were told that the unknown degenerative disease he was struggling with would mean that he had less than two years to live. He felt invisible--like a ghost of himself.

The stress and heartache shook his family to the core, bringing his parents to the brink of separation. Their boy was gone--or so they thought. Martin started to come back to life. He couldn't make a sign or a sound, but he'd become aware of the world around him again and was finally finding his way back to himself.

In these pages, you'll hear the highs and lows of Martin's journey from his own perspective, including:

• A family's resilience in the face of hardship
• The consequences of misdiagnosis
• The gift of a wild imagination

Ghost Boy shares the beautiful, heart-wrenching story of a life reclaimed, a business created, a family transformed, and a new love that's blossomed. Martin's emergence from his own darkness invites us to celebrate our own lives and fight for a better life for those around us.

Very Interesting to me personally

I am the mother of a child with autism who was unable to communicate something even as basic as yes or no until he was 7 years old. Once he was able to communicate I discovered that he already knew how to read and knew so many more things than I could have imagined. I was thrilled to find a book telling the story of learning to communicate from that person's point of view. I was also very interested in his experiences with assistive communication devices. For these reasons, I may have liked this book more than someone similar to me in tastes but without my experiences would have. I was particularly interested for obvious reasons, in Martin's relationship with his parents, particularly his mother. Martin is an amazingly insightful, mature and forgiving person and I felt a lot of powerful emotion while reading this. The most powerful moment of the book to me takes place when Martin has regained his awareness and his family has no idea and his mother is weeping on the floor after fighting with his father about him and he is feeling so bad for her and she says to him that he needs to die. I could have died just reading that. I understood where he feelings came from but his reaction ripped at my heartstrings. Instead of hating her and being angry he is wishing that he just could die. So amazing. His attitude towards his mother was of great interest to me throughout the book. I thought he showed amazing understanding in his forgiveness of her and in his understanding that she'll probably never truly forgive herself. Clearly, I really liked this book. I am not giving it 5 stars simply because I found the ending parts much less powerful and they dragged for me. The end of the book details Martin's relationship with his wife - ending with their wedding. Clearly to him this is the most important part for him. However, and I almost feel guilty making this criticism, I would have found their love story more powerful if he weren't so determined to be in love with someone. If he hadn't mentioned how ready he was and how various other women he'd met had disappointed him when he wanted to fall in love with them. The book is very upbeat and ends happily. I should mention though that there is one chapter which details abuse Martin suffered in care situations. For anyone who deals with disabled people, this chapter is not a surprise, it is a sad fact. He does not dwell on it but people should be aware that this information is there.

Touching

Liked that triumph came in the end. And that love aided in his success. Love for his independency, his jobs and finally the woman who becomes the love of his life.

There was nothing I didn’t like.

Anyone feeling cheated in life for any reason should read this story. This book shows that you can overcome so much if you have faith and work hard. In the end you should realize and be thankful in every blessing you have received.

Very touching story

What did you love best about Ghost Boy?

As a doctor who treats patients with different kinds of neurosurgical diseases, I am always curious about the patient perspective. I enjoyed how he talked about love lasting over several generations.

What did you like best about this story?

The forgiving attitude of the author

Which scene was your favorite?

Moments with his family.

Best memoir ever!

The most incredible story and his way of seeing the world had me welling up and smiling all the way through.

touching and beautiful

This book was heartbreaking and beautiful. The ending was was favorite. Happily ever after. 👫

This book has it all

This book has it all; love, hate, hope and dispare.
I really enjoyed this book. I want to learn more about it all.

Gripping, Terrifying, Uplifting

Any additional comments?

This story is incredibly interesting, gut wrenching and ultimately immensely uplifting. Martin Pistorius is an amazing individual to have gone through his ordeal and not only survive but thrive. You will want to be a better person after listening to this book. Amazing!

Touching story

Truly a touching story. the very first chapter caught me, I couldn't stop listening until the very end.

Unexpectedly inspiring and lovely

I know that life is not fair. I know that life wasn't created to be joyful all of the time. And I know that life can cripple you in many ways. But I know most of all, faith does see you through. This story proves it.

Harrowing. Heartbreaking. Romantic. Triumphant.

What a story!
It is excruciatingly painful to hear Martin's description of the years of despair he spent trapped inside his body, sensing everything yet unable to respond. As a mute observer the best and worst of human behaviour, would get played out in front of him by people who assumed him to be uncomprehending.

The story of his determination to claim a life for himself - achieving communication, reconnecting with his family, learning skills and finding love is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Thoroughly recommended.