The Blink of an Eye

With a foreword by Bill Bryson

‘Compelling . . . moving and often startlingly visceral’
Times Literary Supplement

‘Horrifying. But, in the end, inspiring.’
William Leith, London Evening Standard

‘A wonderful meditation on the human condition and a testament to the power of love’
Max Pemberton, columnist and author of Trust Me, I’m a (Junior) Doctor

‘As gripping as a thriller’
Daily Express

* * *

At the age of 38, Rikke Schmidt Kjaergaard, a Danish scientist, wife and mother of three, is struck down by an acute bout of bacterial meningitis. She awakes from a coma in intensive care to find herself completely paralysed, unable to show she is conscious except by blinking her eye. It becomes her only form of communication as in the months that follow, Kjaergaard’s husband Peter sits beside her helping to interpret every eye movement. She struggles with every basic of life – painfully learning how to breathe, move, eat and speak again. Despite being given a five per cent chance of survival, she works intensively to recover and achieve every small breakthrough.

The Blink of an Eye is a celebration of love and family and every little thing that matters when life is in the balance – written by a scientist uniquely able to describe her physical and mental journey to recovery.