Wednesday, June 06, 2007

90 Minutes in Heaven


My Dad recently gave me this book and recommended it highly. I read it and liked it a lot, for a number of reasons, and wanted to recommend it.

There is an old idea that I have heard expressed in various ways, formerly in my own brain as well as from the mouths and pens of other people, that goes something like, "If only someone who had died and gone to Heaven were somehow able to come back and tell me about it, then...then I could believe..." Well, Don Piper is that guy.

This book is his account of the aftermath of a terrible automobile accident in 1989 in which Piper died, mutilated and crushed by a truck. Some 90 minutes later, miraculously, he came back to life. He was not resuscitated at the scene...in fact, the paramedics had examined him and then covered up his body, hopelessly pinned in his crumpled car. And yet, he came back to life.

Both factually and spiritually compelling, this concise 200-page narrative describes his long physical and emotional recovery in uncompromising detail. To this day, Piper struggles with chronic pain and mobility issues, but his story is definitely a story that encourages, that gives hope in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds

And Piper describes with certainty where he was and what he did for those 90 minutes. I'm not going to give that away or attempt to characterize it here. This is a book recommendation, not a review. My advice is to suspend any disbelief, disconnect any latent skepticism or preconceptions that you may have about such things until after you read the book. This really is not your typical "near-death experience" sensational account. You should read it and decide for yourself. Everyone should.

4 comments:

Heather said...

I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Shoemaker Family said...

A lot of folks have mentioned this to our family that it is a good read. It came out right about the time that Dad became a resident of Heaven...I might have to pick a copy up although it may make me a bit jealous of my Dad, eh?

Barry Pike said...

I think you will like it very much, Allison.

And you, too, Heather. With your medical background, you will certainly find his account of his treatment and recovery interesting. It all happened down around Houston, btw.

Sharon said...

Thank you. I will read this.