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Finding Theo: A Father's True Story of Loss, Courage, and Discovery
Theo Krause gains speed as he drops into a ravine on a remote Colorado mountain biking trail. Rounding a bend, his bike hits an awkward bump, hidden by the shadows, that catapults him head first into an aspen tree, splintering his neck. Staring at the sky, paralyzed, he thinks, “This is where I will die.”
A mountain rescue team races in while a helicopter crew positions for a dangerous airlift. Hours later and five hundred miles away, Theo’s mother takes a phone call. The news is devastating. Her son will never walk again.
Finding Theo is a father’s raw account of his son’s courageous battle for life. It is also a deeper story of discovery about the people whose lives became interwoven with Theo’s: the son of an Iranian immigrant who found him beside the trail, medical professionals―one, the sister of a Columbine High School massacre victim―and the cast of friends who guarded his soul.
Long after the last page turns, Finding Theo provokes questions about the meaning of “miracle” and the way the world was made to work.
A mountain rescue team races in while a helicopter crew positions for a dangerous airlift. Hours later and five hundred miles away, Theo’s mother takes a phone call. The news is devastating. Her son will never walk again.
Finding Theo is a father’s raw account of his son’s courageous battle for life. It is also a deeper story of discovery about the people whose lives became interwoven with Theo’s: the son of an Iranian immigrant who found him beside the trail, medical professionals―one, the sister of a Columbine High School massacre victim―and the cast of friends who guarded his soul.
Long after the last page turns, Finding Theo provokes questions about the meaning of “miracle” and the way the world was made to work.
- GenresNonfictionAutobiography
192 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2018
7 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Krause
4 books1 followerTimothy Krause spent thirty years in the world of high technology, ultimately serving as chief marketing officer of one of the world’s largest suppliers of telecommunications products and services. The son of a preacher, Timothy lives at the crossroads of science, religion, and the arts. Finding Theo represents the culmination of a journey precipitated by a horrifying accident in which these worlds collided.
Today he is a member of the Deloitte Consulting Game Changer Program. He also provides leadership, business strategy, marketing, and business development advice as an independent consultant, and is a popular motivational speaker.
He is a director of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and is a passionate supporter of Our Friends Place, a Dallas based nonprofit dedicated to helping young women break the generational cycles of abuse, neglect, and poverty. He holds a BA in physics from William Jewell College, which in 2015 awarded him its highest honor for distinguished alums, the Citation of Achievement. He also holds the MBA in business management from the University of Dallas.
Timothy met his wife, Jorja, a music education major, during a college choir tour. Together they have raised two children, lived and worked abroad in Paris, France, and currently reside in Dallas, Texas.
Today he is a member of the Deloitte Consulting Game Changer Program. He also provides leadership, business strategy, marketing, and business development advice as an independent consultant, and is a popular motivational speaker.
He is a director of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and is a passionate supporter of Our Friends Place, a Dallas based nonprofit dedicated to helping young women break the generational cycles of abuse, neglect, and poverty. He holds a BA in physics from William Jewell College, which in 2015 awarded him its highest honor for distinguished alums, the Citation of Achievement. He also holds the MBA in business management from the University of Dallas.
Timothy met his wife, Jorja, a music education major, during a college choir tour. Together they have raised two children, lived and worked abroad in Paris, France, and currently reside in Dallas, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 23, 2019
This book was a well-written quick read. Theo’s story of recovery was nice to hear and very inspiring! I hope never to be in such a health crisis, but if so, I aspire to work as hard as he did and recover so fully! Despite the nice things about the story and the writing, I found many elements of this book immensely frustrating.
The author and his son clearly come from a background of extreme privilege and never acknowledge the essential role that being financially well-off plays in how the story turns out. Without the ability to spend at least hundreds of thousands of dollars on things that are just casually mentioned in the book, including: having amazing health insurance and/or paying out of pocket for long stays in the hospital and rehab, tons of extra sessions with various therapists, taking a plane instead of an ambulance when transferring to rehab, access to some of the best doctors and facilities in the world, at least a few last-minute flights, his parents taking time off work and literally moving across the country, furnishing an entire new rental apartment, renovating his apartment (which I guess he/they own in addition to their main home?) to be more handicapped-accessible — Theo’s recovery would have been much harder, if not impossible. That’s not to totally take away from the hard work that Theo did in his recovery or the dedication of the medical professionals involved, but it is clear that the family's financial situation was a major factor in the outcome of this story. The fact that it was not even really mentioned in the book was pretty upsetting to me, as a person who sometimes struggles to make ends meet, and, were I to be in a similar situation, would be bankrupted by it and would most likely spend the rest of my life paying off bills. This isn’t even counting other examples of privilege that were casually mentioned in passing, such as how they fly first class, own at least one horse, lived in Paris, etc. Interestingly, Theo’s mother, according to the book, comes from a less advantaged background - I would have been interested to hear her perspective on the role that the family’s finances played in their son’s recovery.
I found the father (the author) totally unsympathetic as a narrator. He paints his son as some kind of god-like being who can do no wrong. Both parents clearly dote on Theo to the extent that I’m not sure I would want to meet someone raised by parents so obsessed with their child’s perfection. The author makes everyone else’s life’s meaning all about Theo, including the doctors, nurses, therapists, Theo’s friends, etc., removing their personal agency. He also literally compared Theo’s struggles in recovery to both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, which I find quite offensive.
As someone who has struggled with depression in the past, I thought that that portion of the book minimized people's struggles with suicidal ideation and was only superficially sympathetic (basically, “he was improving so much and so many people love him, how could he possibly feel depressed?!?” - a common and frustrating response when others learn that one is depressed). By the way, Theo’s suicidal thoughts magically went away after a hug from his mom during a visit home.
It also seemed like the author was making the whole journey about him, though, to be fair, it’s probably very hard to write a book about someone else’s life without making it all about yourself. I would much rather have heard this whole book told from Theo’s perspective instead of his father’s overly-rosy view. A side note on this topic: It made me very uncomfortable when the book (again, narrated and written by his father) talked about Theo masturbating!
TLDR: an easy read full of unrecognized privilege
The author and his son clearly come from a background of extreme privilege and never acknowledge the essential role that being financially well-off plays in how the story turns out. Without the ability to spend at least hundreds of thousands of dollars on things that are just casually mentioned in the book, including: having amazing health insurance and/or paying out of pocket for long stays in the hospital and rehab, tons of extra sessions with various therapists, taking a plane instead of an ambulance when transferring to rehab, access to some of the best doctors and facilities in the world, at least a few last-minute flights, his parents taking time off work and literally moving across the country, furnishing an entire new rental apartment, renovating his apartment (which I guess he/they own in addition to their main home?) to be more handicapped-accessible — Theo’s recovery would have been much harder, if not impossible. That’s not to totally take away from the hard work that Theo did in his recovery or the dedication of the medical professionals involved, but it is clear that the family's financial situation was a major factor in the outcome of this story. The fact that it was not even really mentioned in the book was pretty upsetting to me, as a person who sometimes struggles to make ends meet, and, were I to be in a similar situation, would be bankrupted by it and would most likely spend the rest of my life paying off bills. This isn’t even counting other examples of privilege that were casually mentioned in passing, such as how they fly first class, own at least one horse, lived in Paris, etc. Interestingly, Theo’s mother, according to the book, comes from a less advantaged background - I would have been interested to hear her perspective on the role that the family’s finances played in their son’s recovery.
I found the father (the author) totally unsympathetic as a narrator. He paints his son as some kind of god-like being who can do no wrong. Both parents clearly dote on Theo to the extent that I’m not sure I would want to meet someone raised by parents so obsessed with their child’s perfection. The author makes everyone else’s life’s meaning all about Theo, including the doctors, nurses, therapists, Theo’s friends, etc., removing their personal agency. He also literally compared Theo’s struggles in recovery to both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, which I find quite offensive.
As someone who has struggled with depression in the past, I thought that that portion of the book minimized people's struggles with suicidal ideation and was only superficially sympathetic (basically, “he was improving so much and so many people love him, how could he possibly feel depressed?!?” - a common and frustrating response when others learn that one is depressed). By the way, Theo’s suicidal thoughts magically went away after a hug from his mom during a visit home.
It also seemed like the author was making the whole journey about him, though, to be fair, it’s probably very hard to write a book about someone else’s life without making it all about yourself. I would much rather have heard this whole book told from Theo’s perspective instead of his father’s overly-rosy view. A side note on this topic: It made me very uncomfortable when the book (again, narrated and written by his father) talked about Theo masturbating!
TLDR: an easy read full of unrecognized privilege
April 30, 2018
Often heart wrenching but ultimately uplifting and often very funny, I couldn't put it down.
April 29, 2018
Poignant, honest, well-written account of a sudden accident’s aftermath on a family, from a father’s perspective. Thought-provoking and real. Definitely a “goodread.”
July 27, 2018
A beautiful read about a family surviving a near tragedy together — a perfect real-life account of how the feelings of hopelessness and despair can simultaneously co-exist with connectedness and triumph. In the end proving that love and faith (in God, in the possible, in being in the right place at the right time) can conquer all.
October 2, 2018
The true story, wrenching and inspiring, of a family surviving every parent's nightmare. It is a story of refusing to accept the worst or to lose hope, until finally the dawn breaks.
May 15, 2019
Touching and intimate book about a young man’s struggles following a spinal cord injury, as told through his father a eyes. Not the most wonderfully written thing I’ve ever read, but this meant a great deal personally as my father in law also spent some time at Craig Hospital shortly after Theo was discharged. It’s a unique experience and I appreciated many similarities in our situations.
July 4, 2018
Inspiring personal story
A touching account about the miraculous ways of healing of body and mind and what it takes for each family member to first move on and ultimately move forward after a tragic event,
A touching account about the miraculous ways of healing of body and mind and what it takes for each family member to first move on and ultimately move forward after a tragic event,
July 13, 2018
How anyone could write an unbiased, heart warming, and dare I say at times hilarious book recounting the worst moments of their own sons’ accident, is something I still can’t comprehend. Yet Timothy did exactly that and shares a personal story worth reading over and over. When the last page has turned, you still won’t want to put this book down.
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September 28, 2018A reminder that life can change in a day. Finding gratitude amidst loss.
Loved this quote at the end:
Not to make loss beautiful
But to make loss the place
Where beauty starts. Where
The heart understands
For the first time
The nature of its journey.
Gregory Orr
Loved this quote at the end:
Not to make loss beautiful
But to make loss the place
Where beauty starts. Where
The heart understands
For the first time
The nature of its journey.
Gregory Orr
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews