Arts & Entertainment

Piermont Author Details Illness, Mistreatment

Bob Samuels' new tome discusses paralysis, improper care

Longtime Piermonter Bob Samuels travelled to one morning in 1981 with a faint numbness in his leg. Before the day was over, he was fully paralyzed.

Samuels was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome, a disorder that attacks the body's nervous system and renders the victim unable to move. It is a rare disorder—one that affects only one or two people per hundred thousand—and patients have the possibility to recover completely.

Bob Samuels did not recover fully, and the former newspaper man documents the story in Blue Water, White Water, his new and first book.

Find out what's happening in Nyack-Piermontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's a survival story," Samuels explained, noting he began working on the piece over 30 years ago. But the tome is more than that—it is also an indictment of the modern medical system.

"It's about my hospital care and the many blunders that were made, and the indifference that a lot of health-care professionals have for someone who is paralyzed," Samuels added.

Find out what's happening in Nyack-Piermontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Samuels' treatment took place at two establishments: Nyack Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Samuels says some of his mistreatment happened locally.

"Nyack Hospital sent me to New York City in an ambulance without a respirator," he recalls, detailing one close-call. Samuels' disorder prevents him from being able to breathe without assistance. "I couldn’t breathe on my own." To save him, a nurse manually pumped air into his lungs during the drive south.

Samuels' book can be purchased online at Amazon, or in hard copy at , the or Nyack's . Eager readers can also dive in on their computer screens, reading the first pages at Samuels' blog.

Samuels will be giving a reading at Sunday, Dec. 18 at 2 p.m., and take questions from the audience.


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