Damaged

After the Coma, After the Headlines, the Story of a Family

By: Janet Smuga

Narrated by: Zoe Fletcher

Damaged is a story of survivor's guilt coupled with resentment tempered by love. It reveals the changing dynamics of a family faced with an injury no one could heal. Nancy Klein was in the first trimester of her second pregnancy when she made headlines as "Coma Mom."

This intimate memoir, written by Klein's sister, reveals all that happened to her and her family after the news cycle moved on. The family: a mother who never gave up hope, even when hope was long gone, and a father who couldn't live without his wife's love. A brother who devoted himself to their happiness, which could never be restored. A sister, the author, who was still recovering from a childhood trauma caused by the parents she loved.

This book is for every woman who has ever been blamed for something a man did to her, for every girl who grew up feeling ashamed. It is for every mother who gave herself so completely to one child’s needs, she lost sight of everyone else, including herself. It is for every daughter who wanted to rescue her mother, and failed. It is for all the forgotten family members.

©2022 Janet Smuga (P)2023 Janet Smuga