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Breathe
Orla Tinsley is well known as a campaigner for the rights of people with Cystic Fibrosis in Ireland. In her memoir, she takes us on a journey into the inner world of a child whose home from home was hospital, yet who from an early age refused to allow her illness to define her.
It is also a story about coming of age in today's Ireland, as Orla takes us through school, college and the pursuit of a dream to become a writer. She describes how her love of poetry and drama sustained her through difficult times, and how writing in her journal was often a lifeline. She also tells of coming to terms with the loss of young friends through CF, and her at times maverick fight to improve an under-par health system that, for those with CF, delivers a lesser life expectancy in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe.
Orla's family instilled in her a mind-over-matter philosophy from an early if you can't do something one way, keep trying until you find another. Breathe reveals the path of a young woman known for her fighting deeply personal, at times shocking, always honest, and ultimately hopeful.
It is also a story about coming of age in today's Ireland, as Orla takes us through school, college and the pursuit of a dream to become a writer. She describes how her love of poetry and drama sustained her through difficult times, and how writing in her journal was often a lifeline. She also tells of coming to terms with the loss of young friends through CF, and her at times maverick fight to improve an under-par health system that, for those with CF, delivers a lesser life expectancy in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe.
Orla's family instilled in her a mind-over-matter philosophy from an early if you can't do something one way, keep trying until you find another. Breathe reveals the path of a young woman known for her fighting deeply personal, at times shocking, always honest, and ultimately hopeful.
384 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 25, 2018
This is Orla Tinsley's version of her life up to her early 20s living with cystic fibrosis. Her honesty about herself, her relationship with family and friends and her bouts in hospital are brutally honest and revealing.
January 21, 2013
Ireland is not and never was a place for the old, the handicapped or those suffering from illnesses such as CF. Provision of services for the sick in our society are weighed in simply financial terms and no account is taken of the way cuts affect the quality of life of those people. With our current crop of "snouts in the trough" politicians that will not change anytime soon.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews