They all thought he was gone. But he was alive and trapped inside his own body for ten years.
In January 1988 Martin Pistorius, aged 12, fell inexplicably sick. First he lost his voice and stopped eating. Then he slept constantly and shunned human contact. Doctors were mystified. Within 18 months he was mute and wheelchair-bound. Martin’s parents were told an unknown degenerative disease left … degenerative disease left him with the mind of a baby and less than two years to live.
Martin was moved to care centers for severely disabled children. The stress and heartache shook his parents’ marriage and their family to the core. Their boy was gone. Or so they thought.
Ghost Boy is the heart-wrenching story of one boy’s return to life through the power of love and faith. In these pages, readers see a parent’s resilience, the consequences of misdiagnosis, abuse at the hands of cruel caretakers, and the unthinkable duration of Martin’s mental alertness betrayed by his lifeless body.
We also see a life reclaimed — a business created, a new love kindled — all from a wheelchair. Martin’s emergence from his own darkness invites us to celebrate our own lives and fight for a better life for others.
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A heart-wrenching true story of one young man’s return to life (misdiagnosis at 12) in a wheelchair through the power of love and faith from teens into 20’s… invites us to celebrate our own lives and fight for a better life for others.
Martin Pistorius was a shy 12 year old boy, with a gift for electronics, when he lost his voice and stopped eating. Eighteen months later he was mute and in a wheelchair. Doctors remained mystified, and could offer no medical diagnosis.
Despite advice to have their son put in residential care, his parents committed to caring for him at home with …
This is a true story about a person trapped in his body, how he was treated, How he was found in there by a caring person, encouraged by others and the life and love he found. He just amazes me. I don’t usually read true life books but I’m really glad I read it
Ghost Boy is the all-too familiar story of a young, unarmed African American male killed by a white police officer. The plot is similar to the real death of Tamir Rice but the story has a unique twist that will take the reader down a slightly different path to understand how America’s racial reckoning can invite new voices to achieve a hopeful …
Wow! What a story. Great read.
This is an autobiography of Martin’s life. Martin was a normal, healthy boy until the age of 12. Martin started to lose the ability to speak, walk, eat on his own, and see. Doctors from all over the world ran every test, but a diagnosis was never found. After spending years in the dark, Martin starts to wake up. He still cannot speak and …
A hard read because of the reality of how life can turn out so unexpectedly. An inspiration to anyone struggling and an insight into how it affects a whole family.
I saw Martin Pistorius’ story on a TV program before I read the book. Knowing just the basic facts about his story definitely inspired me to want to know more. It’s a tragic tale and a stark illustration of humanity. As a boy, Pistorius was left wheelchair-bound and unable to speak. Trapped in his body no one around him was aware just as conscious …