Customer Reviews

How Will They Know If I'm Dead? Transcending Disability and Terminal Illness

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This book is life changing. I first met Bob through his son, my schoolmate Chris, in Malaysia, and thought he was Just another friend's dad(don't take it personally Bob, you were all like that:). After more than ten years, I arranged to visit Bob, his wife Judy, and my old school mate Chris. I was advised by Chris to read the book as a precursor to meeting Bob, so as not to "shock" me when I met him again. HOW WRONG COULD CHRIS BE!!! Bob's vitality, energy, and will to live life to it's fullest, regardless of the obstacles, should be a lesson to all so called able-bodied-people. I used to think that being put in a wheelchair would destroy my life. I now know I was wrong. Bob, you are a hero to me.

This book was impossible to put down. Mr. Horn's determination, will to live, outlook on life, and his achievements are something we all could take a lesson from. He seems so happy and vibrant you almost forget that he typed the whole book with his foot! His descriptions of his family and friends support is enough to make the happiest person in the world jealous. This book is a tribute to the human spirit and to Mr. Horn and his family

A funny, touching and inspirational story about living one's life with a severe physical disability.Anyone whose life has been touched by either their own disability or that of a loved one will find solace and inspiration in Bob Horn's story.A mentor and friend to many, Bob Horn inspires us to push forward against the odds by his example

As a person with the same disease, I found myself saying "ME too!" to all of the stories and feelings.

This book is uplifting and presents ALS as a condition that happens to our bodies but never to our minds and souls.

Final piece of advice:
Ignore the title. It's the worst part of the book.

My only complaint is that author Robert Horn could have picked a better title for his book. Otherwise, this is a great read, an honest look into the disaster that the American long-term health care system is in today. Horn lost his 24/7 nursing care coverage once he transitioned from private insurance to Medicare, which he qualified for as a working adult who became disabled and unable to work.

Even this affluent family couldn't afford to pay for round-the-clock nursing care, so they cobbled together health care aides, family and volunteers. If Horn had just given up and gone into a nursing home, his expenses would have been covered. Wanting to live in the world, with his wife, friends, colleagues and grown children, he paid a huge financial price, and his wife had to work the equivalent of two full-time jobs, one at her day job and the other job at night, as her husband's caretaker.

Is it really that hard for society to put a program together that will keep adults at home, if that's where they want to stay, after the onset of a life-threatening illness or disability? Much to his credit, Horn doesn't spend much time dwelling on the negative, instead revealing a strange zest for life, a willingness to go on living, when most of us would have given up.

A quick web search revealed that Horn died in 2002, living an amazing 14 years with a disease that usually results in death within 5 years. After reading his book, he comes across as the kind of man you wish you'd had a chance to know in life. Horn writes about a life lived with few regrets, and maybe that's the best we can all hope for, at the end of our lives.

In the opening pages, the author describes himself as a man who was, until his mid-forties, 'a very normal person and yet, at the same time, a somewhat abnormal one. I was normal in the sense that that there was nothing particularly unusual about me, no involvement in anything, positive or negative, unique or spectacular.' I am certain that those who knew and loved Mr. Horn would consider him to be a man who lived an unusual, spectacular and quite memorable life.

This is an excelent book! Very inspiring and humbling. I was first introduced to this book while teaching in Japan. The author's daughter was a previous teacher at my school, so the book found it's way to me. Once I began reading it, I was hooked! Another father of a good friend of mine also has the same condition, so it really gave me a greater understanding. It is seriously one of my favorite books!

This book was inspirational and an excellent read. I found myself thinking about the book days and even weeks after reading it. A powerful story told by an amazing man