Praise
"This book should be required reading for every neurologist graduating from residency. It should be in every VA hospital for soldiers returning from war. It should be at the bedside of all who suffer at home. Caregivers should gently read these words out loud to heal and be healed."
Linda W. Peterson-St. Pierre, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor, University of Nevada School of Medicine
"After a severe traumatic brain injury a life is changed; the recovery will be challenging, but the soul need not be lost. Louise Mathewson has created an amazing collection of insights... she has truly ‘Learned to dance with an injured brain.’"
Julie Stapleton, M.D.
Neurotrauma Specialist
"The poetry here is piercing, opening a window to a landscape rarely charted. We all emerge from A Life Interrupted, forever wiser, forever more grateful for the grace of the everyday."
Barbara Mahany
Author and Former Chicago Tribune Journalist
"A must-read for anyone who has experienced loss, illness, crisis, or traumas—physical or emotional. This heart-rending account leads to the discovery that ‘Traumas are about transformation.’ I loved every word."
Alice C. Nixon, MSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Trauma Specialist
"An evocation of the experience of brain injury that is by turns wrenching, detailed, clinically accurate, ruthlessly honest, and in the end spiritually rich and nourishing. A wonderful jewel of a book!"
Darell M. Shaffer, M.D.
Physician and Psychiatrist
“A must-read for anyone in the traumatic brain injury (TBI) field. This poetry is packed with inspiring words painting a patient’s viewpoint of the long journey from horrific accident to revitalized person. In her words, 'TBI = transformed by injury.'”
Deborah Zelinsky, O.D.
Sheila Packa
Former Duluth Poet Laureate &
author of Surface Displacements
"A collection of uplifting poetry... The intimacy she shares and her deeply optimistic sense of faith is inspiring for any and all who have experienced loss. Her personal story should be shared with anyone with a brain injury."
Robert G. Kohn, D.O.
Board Certified Neuropsychiatrist and Brain Injury Specialist
"Shattering, haunting, humbling and ultimately triumphant, this poetic memoir takes us deep into a damaged brain and the courageous crawl back to a reclaimed life. Language, once lost, returns to shimmer on the page, each poem an altar to the angel’s promise that in trauma there is transformation. This collection will surely provide hope, identification, and voice for those who struggle with TBI, and those who love and serve them. It is a brilliant and urgently needed addition to the literature in therapeutic writing."
Kathleen Adams
Director, Center for Journal Therapy & Therapeutic Writing Institute
Louise is an International U.S. Ambassador for Synapse
International Recognition
Brain injury knows no geographic boundaries, and the impact of Louise’s story has reached far beyond U.S. borders. A Life Interrupted was recognized and featured in Able Magazine, the United Kingdom’s flagship disability and lifestyle publication, charting its impact as an essential poetic memoir for brain injury survivors and care providers worldwide.
And in recognition of her remarkable recovery and her writing, Louise was named an International U.S. Ambassador for Synapse—Australia’s flagship organization for brain injury support.
“Millions around the world are affected by brain injury, which is why Synapse in Australia thought it fitting that we have an international Ambassador.”
This prestigious cross-continental appointment highlights how deeply A Life Interrupted: Living with Brain Injury resonates with the global traumatic brain injury community, serving as an enduring beacon of awareness and hope for survivors worldwide.
"Louise Mathewson’s writing is a map to a journey we may not all take, but we all need to understand! I am grateful for the comprehendible guidance of Louise’s writing—it increases my understanding and allows me to be a better companion to people with traumatic brain injury however and wherever our paths cross."
Christina Baldwin
Acclaimed author and pioneer of the writing-as-healing movement
"A Life Interrupted is a compelling memoir in poetry that tells the story of recovery from and life with a traumatic brain injury. Louise captures the feelings that arise along the process of waking from a coma, relearning critical life skills, and coping with long term effects of the injury. Her poetry gives the reader a deep sense of these struggles. This book would be a help to not only survivors, but to families and health professionals, due to its perspective of being inside an injured brain."
Lee Woodruff
New York Times Bestselling Author
Co-founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation
"A record of a shattering car accident and the aftermath of a brain injury... This collection will provide hope to patients and their families. The poems reveal her strong spirit, resilience, and the step-by-step journey of recovery."
Sheila Packa
Duluth Poet Laureate (2010–2012) and Minnesota‑based poet and author