Bone by Bone

A Memoir of Trauma and Healing

By: Geralyn S. Ritter

Narrated by: Geralyn S. Ritter

On May 12, 2015, Amtrak 188 derailed outside of Philadelphia going 106 miles per hour. Eight passengers were killed and many more severely injured. Geralyn Ritter was thrown from the train with such force that she sustained catastrophic injuries to her chest, her abdomen, and her pelvis. Found unconscious, unable to breathe, and suffering massive blood loss, she was not expected to survive. After enduring weeks in the ICU, dozens of surgeries over the following years, unremitting pain, PTSD, depression, and opioid dependence, Geralyn was faced with a daunting question: Beyond mere survival after trauma, where is the path back to joy?

Bone by Bone shares her powerful story of resilience. With humor, grace, and no-holds-barred honesty, she describes the journey back to life and offers support and encouragement for others. Bone by Bone addresses the long-lasting impact of sudden trauma and extends hope—from the perspective of someone who has been there. And back.

©2022 Geralyn S. Ritter (P)2022 Geralyn S. Ritter

Survival testimonial

This story touched me and helped me on my own journey through a much lesser post surgical journey. The personal account of raw feelings and frustrations of not healing on one’s own timeline resonated. This is truly an amazing story of tenacity and triumph.

Her trauma even far worse than mine resonated with me!

This book was so well written, and I think would be great for trauma survivor, family members to read because she was able to explain all of the things that I felt about couldn’t put into words for my family and my family, and I had some of the same struggles that she did in addition the hospital stay and feeling dirty and not being able to do anything by yourself or be aloneIt was like she was speaking for me.

Incredibly moving memoir about healing

Geralyn’s memoir was a compelling read. It is all-at-once funny, sad, informative, introspective and brutally honest. It has changed how I think about healing and addressing grief and trauma. I highly recommend the audiobook because we hear the story in Geralyn’s voice and can hear and feel her emotion and resolve.

Disturbingly powerful

This is a profound story of, as the author says, gratitude, grief, and grace. If you ever wondered “how can a person survive” a catastrophic accident, this book gives some insight (though I can tell there is far more to the story). If you want to explore the same question the context of human evil, I recommend “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl.

Well told

Hearing her words makes me realize how trauma affects people. In traumatic instances like the train derailment you tend to forget soon after. This book shows us that the pain still happens long after the media has moved on.