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Transworld has bought UK and Commonwealth rights to In Shock by US critical care doctor Rana Awdish, an account of Awdish’s near-death experience and her transition from doctor to patient.
Awdish lost her unborn first child in a medical emergency in which she haemorrhaged nearly all of her blood volume. For months she fought for her life in her own hospital, in a battle involving multiple major surgeries. During her battle to survive, Awdish is said to have been faced "the thoughtless behaviour of her fellow doctors, their indifference to human loss and disregard for anguish and suffering". For the first time she saw the problem of the patient as a diagnosis rather than a person, and has subsequently made it her life’s work to improve communication in medicine, Transworld said.
Editorial director Andrea Henry commented: "Dr Awdish’s account of her medical trauma is hypnotic. Writing beautifully and hauntingly about her experience, she’s able to stand outside of herself as a patient and analyse the crisis, in meticulous detail, as a doctor. It’s an incredibly powerful, dramatic read. But at its heart is the important message that doctors need to unpick their learned behaviours about emotional distancing and connect with their patients on a human level. I’m delighted to be publishing Dr Awdish’s remarkable book."
The deal was done through Kerry Nordling at St Martin’s Press. St Martin’s will publish in October, with Bantam Press following in January 2018. Awdish will visit the UK to promote.