Description
Book SynopsisTed Fink's wife heard the explosion from the living room, where she sat reading the day's mail and sipping iced tea. She ran to the front door and saw a massive curling fireball. Her husband was in the flames, she was certain. She called 911, asking for help at the farm.... So begins Michael McCarthy's extraordinary portrayal of a real-life nightmare: an Illinois corn farmer so badly burned in a tractor accident that only his feet, protected by his new steel-toe boots, escaped the flames. While he lay unconscious, his wife Rhoda, with no way of knowing how disabled or disfigured he would emerge from multiple surgeries, had to decide whether to allow doctors to enshroud him in a cocoon of artificial skin, or let him die. This rare and intimate story carries the reader through the Finks' agonizing experience as Ted is sedated into a coma for six months while Rhoda is left alone to contemplate this life-or-death decision. Even the possibility of saving Ted depends upon the product of laboratories at MIT, where Mr. McCarthy takes the reader to describe the long-shot development of the world's first artificial skin and the ambitious Greek chemist who refused to let his dream of inventing it die. Because this new skin enables people to survive traumas as never before, it also forces hard choices with unpredictable consequences on ordinary people. To gather scenes that are by turns wrenching, beautiful, and searing, Mr. McCarthy, who met the Finks while working on their story for the Wall Street Journal, talked with them at length over two years at their farm. His heartfelt narrative of tragedy and redemption weaves together a saga of six generations of Midwestern farmers while revealing the dark side of a nostalgic occupation bedeviled by accident and death. For images and additional information visit the author's website at: http://thesunfarmer.com
Trade ReviewMcCarthy provides edge-of-the-seat drama…he builds the portrayal of farmers as noble tillers of the soil. -- Stephen J. Lyons, Stephen J. Lyons * Chicago Tribune *
McCarthy writes sympathetically not only about Fink's plight...but also about Fink's wife...left to make the ultimate gut-wrenching choice. * Chicago Tribune *
In The Sun Farmer, journalist Michael McCarthy relates the tragically captivating story of one man's near-death experience and the medical advancement that saved his life. While working on his farm one day, Ted Fink was severely burned all over his body in a tractor accident. As he lay in a coma for six months, his wife struggled with the decision to attempt experimental procedures or let Ted die. Meanwhile, an ambitious Greek chemist at MIT works on the long-shot development of artificial skin, that could save Ted's life. This is a gripping account of struggle and triumph and the vital but dangerous life of Midwestern farmers.
The story of the Finks is compelling; Ted's bravery and Rhoda's faith and constancy are lessons to us all. -- Tom Cooper * St. Louis Post-Dispatch *
The book is genuine. -- Rikki Knutti * Saukvalley.Com *
A moving survey any general-interest lending library will want. * Midwest Book Review *
A compelling literary ride. * Farm Journal *
A tribute to human endurance. This...is a story of dogged courage in the face of terrible odds. -- Dwight W. Hoover, Author of A Good Day's Work
This fascinating account is well researched and smoothly written....McCarthy's intelligent probing of extremity allows us to see advances of medical care, vulnerability in humans, and, as well, their deep strengths. -- Albert Howard Carter III, Author Of First Cut: A Season In The Human Anatomy Lab
A gripping tale of courage, perseverance, and devotion as well as the astounding development of an artificial skin that offers hope to all burn victims. -- R. Douglas Hurt, Author of American Farm
