Book excerpt: A BESTSELLER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM “Perceptive—and lacerating—about the pressures felt by disabled people to be cured … A plea to those with well-functioning bodies to be aware of what they have.”—Sunday Times Melanie Reid was fifty-two years old when she fell from her horse, broke her neck, and was paralyzed from the chest down. In an instant, her life changed forever. In The World I Fell Into, Melanie describes how she spent nearly one year in the hospital, working toward gaining as much movement in her body as possible, and learning to navigate her way through a world that had previously been invisible to her. As a journalist, she had always turned to words. As a quadriplegic person, her mind was still working: she could speak, record her voice, and use a laptop with one finger. Writing would be her lifeline. Melanie writes about disability, recovery, trauma, and relationships with both a generous spirit, frank honesty, and an irreverent sense of humor. Above all, she offers an authentic message of hope: The World I Fell Into reminds us to practice gratitude for what we have, right now, for the world can change in a moment’s notice.