Praise for Gifts of the Heart...
“The gifted surgeon shows us the power of purpose in the operating room, in life, and on the battlefield. Get ready to passionately pursue your purpose!”
—Greg Salciccioli, author of The Enemies of Excellence
“A spellbinding story that transports the reader from the orderly heart surgery operating room in Minnesota to the chaos of a battlefield outpost in Afghanistan as Dr. Kareem Afram struggles to learn and incorporate the lifesaving values of humility, gratitude, love, and persistence.”
—Edward A. Lefrak, MD, author of Cardiac Valve Prostheses and Founder of Cardiac, Vascular, and Thoracic Surgery Associates
“Seeing the Operating Room, its players, and its patients dramatized in such a realistic and exciting fashion reaffirms the author’s noble work.”
—Patricia C Seifert, RN, author of Cardiac Surgery
“Hassan Tetteh’s descriptions of battlefield operating theaters make M.A.S.H. look like a Sunday school picnic. And yet it is a moving portrait of pain, courage, and spiritual discovery that turns it into a coming-of-age story. A real page-turner.”
—Richard H. Robbins, Ph.D.,
author of Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism
“This extraordinary novel displays the dedication, sensitivity, and compassion that we all expect from our physicians—in this case, in the worst possible conditions, wartime Afghanistan.... Read it to be inspired!”
—Douglas R. Skopp, Ph.D.,
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of History, emeritus,
and author of Shadows Walking: A Novel
“Gifts of the Heart is a captivating read from start to finish. This book transports readers from the relatively safe harbors of daily life to harrowing moments that demand more than skill and expertise—they require ‘Gifts of the Heart’—the ability to transcend self to live a life of service and love. Dr. Tetteh brings readers to the precipice of life that requires more than our skills and knowledge. The precipice requires our love and service. Gifts of the Heart leaves readers with a question: what decisions will we make that determine the life we live and lead?”
—Adelaide Schaeffer, President and CEO,
Champions for Kids
“A powerful testimony to a profession that is life encompassing but incredibly rewarding for the devoted practitioner who performs intricate skilled procedures both from perspective of the critical need of the patient, but also a love of the work. It is clear the author captures emotional and moving experience to keep the reader spellbound. Real life experiences from both the operating theater and the battlefield highlight the fragility of life in both. A wonderful first novel.... I expect to see more of the same in the future.”
—Ceeya Patton Bolman, Program Director,
Team Heart, Inc.
“Hassan Tetteh’s first novel about the education—both in medicine and in life—of Dr. Kareem Afram reminds us that we must apply lessons of the heart in all we do. It’s a required read for anyone who wants to make an impact on the world.”
—Mary Somers, MS, Associate Director of Admissions,
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
“A heartwarming and inspirational story of a combat surgeon healing and being healed through medicine and faith in the greater glory of God.”
—Rev. Christopher S. Fronk,
Former 2D Marine Division (FWD) Chaplain
“This is a compelling journey into harm’s way by a soldier and surgeon. Dr. Tetteh has taken that journey, and his story is an important one to hear and understand. The medical perspective on war deepens our appreciation for the difficult decisions and sacrifices our soldiers, their families, and the communities that have supported them have had to make and will continue to make as they heal.”
—David Sklar, MD, Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean Emeritus, University of New Mexico,
author, La Clinica: A Doctor’s Journey Across Borders
“The terrible casualties of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have required courage, creativity, and endurance from the medical profession. This book tells the story from the perspective of a combat surgeon, facing life-or-death decisions in the operating room.”
—Linda J. Bilmes, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School,
Co-author, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict
“This beautifully written story is a precious gift from the author’s own heart on how each of us can live a more purposeful, more connected, life. Dr. Tetteh deftly blends immigrant upbringing, surgical achievement, military service, and restorative faith in God into a gripping spiritual allegory.”
—Charles Perry, MD, MBA,
Managing Director at Dialectic Partners
Gifts
of the
Heart
A Novel
HASSAN A. TETTEH
with Foreword by
Christopher B. Dewing
GIFTS OF THE HEART
Copyright © 2013 by Hassan A. Tetteh
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright
Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1891-9
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. Department of Defense, or the United States Government.
Scripture quotations are taken from: The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
1. Physicians-Fiction 2. Fathers and Sons-Fiction 3. Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)-Fiction 4. Sierra Leone-Fiction 5. Ghana-Fiction 6. Afghanistan-Fiction 7. Surgery-Fiction
Cover Design by Steven Dana
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