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Samantha Michael, author of The Beauty of My Shadow: A Story of Strength, The Butterflies Above My Bed and The Princess in Pink: A True Tale was born in Ajax, Ontario. A bright, ambitious student on the verge of beginning university, her life was unexpectedly and permanently altered when in 1991 she suffered near-fatal injuries as the passenger in a single-car accident caused by a drunk driver.
That moment marked the beginning of a long and difficult recovery process starting with a month-long hospitalization. Despite the severe physical and emotional trauma she sustained, Samantha willed herself to push on and reconstruct her life, an experience that has inspired her to passionately pursue a range of activities, including Pilates, meditation, music therapy, art therapy, volunteerism, philanthropy and dance.
Today, Samantha serves on the board of the Ontario-based non-profit An Aid to Help Foundation, which she founded to help raise money for charitable causes in Canada and beyond. She has also assisted the National Arts Centre since 1999 as a volunteer. She lives with her beloved, ever-loyal canine companion Mya, in a home overlooking a vibrant forest, where the gentle sway of the wind chimes helps remind her of the beauty and tranquillity of life.
Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite
The Beauty of My Shadow is Samantha Michael’s story. It’s the story of how her entire life changed in an instant. At just 18 years old, Samantha was involved in a horrific car accident, caused by a young drunk driver. Pulled from the wreck, Samantha is barely holding on to life, but it’s when she comes out of the coma that the real horror begins for her. Suffering a brain injury, Samantha has to learn to live all over again and faces a life full of challenges. Twenty years after the accident, Samantha decides to tell her story, to talk about her recovery. She tells, in a sometimes humorous way, of her struggles – emotionally, physically and medically. She talks of how the accident affected her whole life including her friends and her family. She talks of when she decided to start up a non-profit organization to help others, called An Aid to Help Foundation. This is a story that will touch everyone who reads it, a learning curve and a warning of the dangers of drunk driving, of how it can destroy lives. But it’s also a story of triumph in the face of adversity, of having the strength to go on and live in spite of everything.
The Beauty of My Shadow by Samantha Michael was a real revelation. Both heartbreaking and humorous, Samantha wrote her book in such a way that I felt a part of her story, as if I was there living it with her. Having worked in a head injuries unit, I could empathize with much of what she said, having seen the effects of drink driving for myself. A wonderful story, told in a beautiful manner and holding many lessons for people to learn.
