SURVIVING A MIRACLE

Pediatrician Greenberg’s strongly religious memoir recounts a harrowing rescue in Hawaii.

In 2014, the author took a family trip to the coast of Kaua’i. What was initially a pleasant hike on the Hanakapi’ai Trail wound up taking a dangerous turn. After a storm caused flash flooding, Greenberg and his family were in trouble: Although he, his daughter, Marla, and his son, Zach, survived being swept away in a river, they were now stuck where they were. Some 98 hikers would wind up spending the night on the trail, but the author encountered a more pressing situation: The rushing water had left 12-year-old Zach stranded on a ledge by himself. A lack of cell phone service and the inaccessible trail meant there would be no immediate rescue. The author and some strangers (many of whom provide their own accounts in the text) banded together to help Zach as much as they could and make him feel safe before a helicopter arrived. The author discusses his sense of gratitude and how he found strength in prayer throughout the experience; he reflects that “there were too many circumstances that aligned perfectly to save our family for it to be just coincidental. God had a plan in mind.” A series of personal photographs provide a pictorial account of what happened. The author’s no-nonsense approach to the subject makes the work concise and clear. A portion on “Lessons Learned” includes the simple assertions that “there are good people in the world” and “prayers work.” The tone is a welcome, heartfelt earnestness, whether the subject is the existence of angels or the desire to “share the beauty” of Kaua’i with family. One might wish that the author had included more insight into the aftermath of the incident and the family’s recovery, but this is a straightforward and sincere story of a traumatic event.

A deeply felt account of a trying day and the essential spiritual lessons that one family learned.