A Shot of Hope
Stories of Quiet Resilience
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‘This writing is like a love letter to medicine.’ – Dr Aisling Ní Shúilleabháin
‘This remarkable book of real-life experiences in often the most challenging circumstances will inspire you by finding hope where others might see only despair.’ – Professor Tony Holohan
‘In this wonderful book about human resilience and hope, John Travers reminds us that it is in the simple acts that people shine and support each other in the most difficult of times. John makes the compelling case that it is the fundamental decency of humans that will always prevail, however difficult or trying the circumstances.’ – Professor Luke O’Neill
‘A Shot of Hope: Stories of Quiet Resilience is a book to be read slowly, considered carefully, absorbed thoroughly and savoured reverently. It is a book to gift to others, and to place in clinical settings, hostels, shelters, addiction centres, prisons, educational establishments and in the offices of politicians who care about health services and the staff who serve in them.’ – Dr Marie Murray
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Publisher's description
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With a remarkable ability to weave a story about universal human resilience from both difficult and uplifting experiences, author John Travers writes ‘a love letter to medicine’ (Dr Aisling Ní Shúilleabháin) in his new book, A Shot of Hope, published by Orpen Press.
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In A Shot Of Hope, John Travers uses the lens of his medical training to examine the ability of humanity – from the backstreets of Kolkata, through a hospital in Ghana, to the busiest emergency department in the world, a women’s prison, and a clinic serving the homeless of Dublin – not only to survive, but thrive, despite all challenges thrown our way. Resilience may live in the simplest of acts and words, a persistent belief in the power of humanity. The voices of people who teach us what it is to be truly resilient grow louder as John Travers’ reflections on his medical training and work unfold.
All of us have the power to find strength at life’s most vulnerable moments. Sometimes we forget this. Travers reminds us of one of our greatest gifts.
A Shot of Hope cover more than ten years in the life of a medical doctor as he spends time training in specialties as diverse as obstetrics, psychiatry and emergency medicine, and working across Europe, Africa and Asia, dealing with everything from homelessness to Covid-19. This beautifully written book will enrapture all readers with an interest in what it truly means to be human.
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