Reviewed by Marthe Lépine

Richard Galli: Rescuing Jeffrey. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing, 2000

“I had brought my son back to life, and then I had to find a way to kill him.”

Four families were enjoying a backyard Bar B-Q on a quiet Independence Day holiday when disaster struck. Jeffrey Galli, 17, miscalculated a dive and remained motionless at the bottom of the pool. As the other children alerted the parents, hectic efforts were undertaken to try to save the teen. While the paramedics were on their way, Jeffrey’s father was working feverishly to get his son to breathe. Then after a rush to the hospital, the extent of Jeffrey’s injuries became gradually more overwhelming. Jeffrey would never be able to move again. He would not even be able to breathe on his own ever again. A break to his neck was very high and had damaged his spinal column.

This book is a kind of personal diary written by Jeffrey’s father, Richard Galli, recounting the first ten days following the accident. At first, everybody’s total preoccupation with keeping Jeffrey alive was filling all of his father’s waking moments. Then, when he realized the extent of Jeffrey’s disability, Richard was devastated even more because Jeffrey had recently come out of an adolescent crisis and had begun to enjoy life again. Richard acutely felt the loss of his son’s lifestyle – the basketball hoop that still rested in its box, the textbooks in his bedroom, the teenage social life he would never know, the car he would never drive...

People all around Richard had only one thing in mind: saving Jeffrey’s life. But in Richard’s mind, doubts started to creep up: had it been worthwhile to save Jeffrey from drowning in the first place? Would Jeffrey’s life ever be worth living again? Then came an increasing conviction that maybe, just maybe, it would be better for Jeffrey, and for everyone to simply unplug the life supports...Option B: the choice of death.

Richard, being a lawyer, more or less consciously began building a “case” for allowing his son to die. Jeffrey’s body seemed already dead; all that was left was his mind and his heart. For the rest of his life he would remain dependent on others. He would need help for even the most basic activities.

Richard discussed “Option B” with his wife, then with the medical staff, and later with the hospital ethics committee. He was conscious that the window of opportunity was very small, since Jeffrey would soon be 18, but at the same time he did not want to frighten Jeffrey by including him in the discussions. However, in an honest attempt at covering all bases, Richard was also investigating other options, gathering information on rehabilitation, and visiting long-term care institutions.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey was struggling to come to terms with what had happened to him, asking over and over again the same questions, the same story of how his accident happened, wishing sometimes that he had not survived.

Messages of support and encouragement kept coming from friends, relatives, colleagues.

Then one day, Richard was visited by partners from his former law firm who had remained his friends, who came to announce that they had opened a bank account for Jeffrey and were going to set up a trust fund. While Richard had somewhat lost touch with the world around him during those few days, people he had never met were offering their help. Richard was still struggling with a choice between life and death, but he began to feel that he would be letting down all these people if he decided to pursue “Option B.”

Then, at about the 8th day, as Jeffrey was regaining some of his strength, he began to take a personal interest in his own care, to ask questions and look for explanations, to take control of his mechanical life supports. Friends came to visit, and Jeffrey began to learn to laugh again. Life took over. Jeffrey wanted to go on. And Richard decided that, whatever Jeffrey wanted to do, he would be with him to help him rebuild his life.

There is a sequel to the story. If you want to know how Jeffrey’s life has been developing, Richard and Jeffrey are keeping a wonderful website at http://gallilaw.com. The website also contains a lot of interesting information about rehabilitation and technology.

Marthe Lépine is a freelance writer and translator from Russell, Ontario.