“Life is a daring adventure or nothing.” -Helen Keller
Jordan Levin’s life started out as a perilous and suspenseful adventure for his parents. Born three months premature, he was so small that he weighed only 31 ounces – with tiny hands the size of a man’s fingernail. He had to have a series of operations to correct conditions that threatened his grip on life.
But hang on he did. And when it seemed that everything would turn out fine, as a toddler, Jordan was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf – he could hear sounds with frequencies below a certain threshold, but above that and he was at a loss.
Amazingly, even before the diagnosis, young Jordan had the uncanny and innate ability to lip-read. So, with the courage and foresight of his parents who were determined to raise him as normally as possible, he learned how to speak, graduated with a B.A. from Michigan State University and grew up to become a successful and confident young man. Later, he would embark on a career as a motivational speaker and personal trainer.
More than a fascinating story of a person’s triumph over disability, WE WERE RELENTLESS: A Family’s Journey to Overcome Disability is also a touching account about a father’s and mother’s love for their son – and how they encouraged him every step of the way to be all that he could be.
Click here to read the excerpt of the book