Josie's Story: A Mother's Inspiring Crusade to Make Medical Care Safe

By Sorrel King

Book Overview

The "wrenching but inspiring" true story of a tragic medical mistake that turned a grieving mother into a national advocate (The Wall Street Journal).

Sorrel King was a young mother of four when her eighteen-month-old daughter was badly burned by a faulty water heater in the family's new home. Taken to the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital, Josie made a remarkable recovery. But as she was preparing to leave, the hospital's system of communication broke down and Josie was given a fatal shot of methadone, sending her into cardiac arrest. Within forty-eight hours, the King family went from planning a homecoming to planning a funeral.

Dizzy with grief, falling into deep depression, and close to ending her marriage, Sorrel slowly pulled herself and her life back together. Accepting Hopkins' settlement, she and her husband established the Josie King Foundation. They began to implement basic programs in hospitals emphasizing communication between patients, family, and medical staff--programs like Family-Activated Rapid Response Teams, which are now in place in hospitals around the country. Today Sorrel and the work of the foundation have had a tremendous impact on health-care providers, making medical care safer for all of us, and earning Sorrel a well-deserved reputation as one of the leading voices in patient safety.

"I cried . . . I cheered" at this account of one woman's unlikely path from full-time mom to nationally renowned patient advocate (Ann Hood). "Part indictment, part celebration, part catharsis" Josie's Story is the startling, moving, and inspirational chronicle of how a mother--and her unforgettable daughter--are transforming the face of American medicine (Richmond Times-Dispatch).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802145043
• ISBN13: 9780802145048
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

True Heroes

I met Sorrel King, her husband Tony and their four children at a friend's home in Boulder, Colorado a few winters ago. They were on a ski vacation that they hoped would give them a break from grieving the death of Josie, the baby of the family until Sam was born, shortly after Josie's death. I watched the King family try to fit in, laugh, look normal. Watching the kids play helped, but adults in the room felt the tension, wondered if they should mention Josie, offer their condolences again. In 2001, Josie King, when eighteen-months-old, was badly burned in the family's new home because of a faulty water heater. She was rushed to one of the best hospitals in the nation, John Hopkins. On the very day she was supposed to go home after a remarkable recovery, she died because of a medical error. When Josie's parents learned that ninety-eight thousand people die each year from medical errors while receiving treatment in hospitals throughout the United States, they used the money they'd received from John Hopkins as settlement to start the Josie King Foundation. This book is the story of Sorrel's fight to save other families from having to experience a death caused by medical error. She is today a leading voice in the patient-safety movement that emphasizes communication between patients, family, and medical staff. Josie's Story: A Mother's Inspiring Crusade to Make Medical Care Safe, doesn't gloss over King's raw emotions. For year's, and even while working hand-in-hand with the very doctors she blamed for Josie's death, King was depressed, angry, and obsessed with learning the details of her daughter's death. She struggled to understand how a loving God would let this happen. All of her relationships suffered, including her marriage to Tony whose grieving process was so different from hers. Josie's Story is a memoir with a purpose, to tell others where to go for comfort and information when experiencing horrific events similar to those the Kings had to suffer. Long lists of organizations dedicated to hospital safety are given, comprehensive advice based upon Sorrel King's experiences is offered. It is a book worth reading and keeping for access to resources. Go to The Josie King Foundation at [...] for more information. I spent only a few hours with the King family when they visited friends in Boulder. I recall feeling enormous empathy then. After reading this book, I also feel enormous respect for them as true American heroes. Each of them has had to sacrifice in order to accomplish their mission of helping others. by Donna Van Straten Remmert for Story Circle Book Reviews reviewing books by, for, and about women

Out of extreme grief comes good work

This book is so very good.You fall in love with this little girl and can only imagine the terrible grief and anger that this mother feels when she loses her daughter because of a medical error.Through the help of others including health care workers, she channels that grief into a wonderful foundation helping patients,family and medical staff to have better communacation and making medical care safer for us all.

please always be your patient's advocate

An incredible story -- an unspeakable tragedy and yet, what a cautionary tale! Most hospitals today are cutting costs everywhere. Hospital floor nurses are overworked, underpaid and there are lots of "floats" (nurses who will be on for only a shift and new to that floor -relatively unfamiliar your pt's specific needs.)If you have a family member who is post surgical or bedbound for any length of time - STAY WITH THEM! -- to reach the water glass, to find the kleenex, to fluff the pillow...and to CALL some one when that IV has a tiny malfunction and begins its BEEPING! or when the patient has to get up to the bathroom!! -- and ALWAYS - ASK THE QUESTIONS! for if you have that "funny feeling" something is "-not right"... You're probably right. Thank you Sorrell, for having such courage to share this remarkable story.

A hero of the patient safety movement

Sorrel King has already saved many lives with her tireless work to urge hospitals to listen carefully to what parents say about their sick children. It takes a special person to turn tragedy into something positive. I featured Sorrel and several other brave survivors of medical errors in my book: The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care?and Avoiding the Worst. It's wonderful to see her now tell the full story of her daughter Josie and her inspiring crusade. I hope everyone can read this book and absorb its lessons.

HOME RUN!

Sorrel King knocks it out of the park with this book that deal's with an issue all parents fear. She show's the grief she bears and how she and her family work through it all. And in the process takes on Johns Hopkins Medical Center...and comes out a winner. This book is a must for every family, hospital and library in America.