Strength and Courage

Curt Stechert was a young man just out of high school and preparing to go into the military when he was injured while operating a ski lift. As a result of the treatment he received, it was discovered that he was also suffering from an unknown illness. At first, the doctors couldn't determine exactly what the illness was. Several weeks later, the doctors at the National Institues of Health in Maryland discovered that he had a rare form of lymphoma. So rare, in fact, that there were only a few known cases and no patients had survived!

Doctors were contacted all over the country, and the answer was always the same. "Don't send him here - we can't do anything for him." Time was quickly running out for Curt, but thanks to the persistence of a local doctor in New Jersey, Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City agreed to take him on as a patient.

The day Curt walked through their doors, his chances of survival were zero - and things quickly went downhill from there. He was hospitalized numerous times for a total of six months out of the coming year while constantly facing one new challenge after another.

This is not a story of despair, but an amazing story of survival. Taken from the pages of a journal Curt's mother kept throughout his ordeal, this book is intended to give others hope when faced with what seems like insurmountable odds.