Author Series: Emily Falcon and Anna Jaworski

Author Emily Falcon and publisher Anna Jaworski will discuss advocating for kids and adults with chronic heart-related issues. A Q&A will follow the discussion, which will be virtual via Zoom. As a destination for discovery, your Fort Worth Public Library is a location for learners of any age. We designed this program for adults.

 

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About the Book

From the Sidelines to the Finish Line: A Chronic Illness Survivor’s Challenges and Everyday Triumphs is a memoir about Emily Falcon’s experiences of living with a chronic cardiac condition. This is a story of survival and how her physical situation initially shaped and limited her. She shares it to serve as a resource to families, caregivers and physicians who want to gain insight into a patient’s point of view. Her story aims to encourage others to advocate for themselves, believe in their abilities, never be afraid to test their boundaries and feel motivated to make changes in their lives.

About the Presenters

Emily Falcon had a heart attack in 1982, at just 7 weeks old, that destroyed 40 percent of the left side of her heart. What followed has been living through multiple cardiac procedures, surgeries and hospitalizations. In 2017, after a lifetime of sitting on the sidelines, she had a second open-heart surgery at age 35. She loves travel and animals, both of which have helped her get through difficult times. Emily has sought out adventures whenever she can, such as trekking up volcanoes to observe mountain gorillas in Uganda, volunteering with cheetahs and baboons in Namibia, playing with wolves at the Arctic Circle, and eating with orangutans in Singapore. She now participates in a weekly run club and runs in 5K races throughout the year. 

Anna Jaworski is a heart mom to a single ventricle survivor. Her first piece as a paid author was in Critical Care Nurse. She then wrote Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A Handbook for Parents, and when unable to find a publisher willing to take it on, she and her husband, Frank Jaworski started Baby Hearts Press, a publishing company devoted to providing resources for the CHD community. Anna has written several books and anthologies including My Brother Needs an Operation, The Heart of a Mother and The Heart of a Heart Warrior.