Not Dead Yet
My Race Against Disease: From Diagnosis to Dominance
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4.7 • 12 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Part memoir, part sports adventure, Not Dead Yet tells the inspirational story of Phil Southerland's battle with Type 1 diabetes and how from diagnosis to sheer determination, he beat all odds and turned his diagnosis and his passion for cycling into a platform.
From leading a Race Across America to managing a world-class cycling program, Southerland's journey on and off the bike has helped changed the way the world views diabetes.
When Phil Southerland was seven-months-old, he lost ten pounds in a week, his body was limp and his breathing slowed to what his mother called a "death rattle." Rushing him to the ER, she was informed that tiny Phil displayed the youngest case of diabetes on record in the world at that time.
Blindness, kidney failure and death were all predicted for him by age twenty-five. Decades later, not only is Phil alive and well but as the founder of Team Type 1, he and his team of championship cyclists — many of them diabetics—have become health and fitness role models for people the world over.
Together, they took on some of the most challenging endurance events in the world, including winning the Race Across America—a grueling 3,000-mile endurance competition—twice. Today, Phil continues to lead Team Type 1 as CEO.
Not Dead Yet is Phil's powerful story: his account of his relationship with his mother, and how she struggled to keep him alive; growing up quickly in the New-Old South of the 1990s, learning at the tender age of 6 years old how to check his glucose and give himself injections; of how he fulfilled his dream of becoming a professional athlete using his team and the bike as a platform, inspiring thousands of individuals and families around the world who are battling diabetes to not just chase, but catch, their dreams.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at only seven months, Southerland was projected to either be dead by the age of 25 or have suffered blindness and kidney failure. But thanks to a meticulous monitoring of his disease, the author persevered to become a highly successful athlete and entrepreneur, and as it turns out, a talented storyteller as well. Living most of his childhood in a single-parent household in Florida, Southerland found his freedom through bicycling, which gave him the freedom he needed and the motivation necessary to control his diabetes. As a teenager, he became a fixture in bike racing in Florida, and his competitive spirit grew stronger through high school and college though so, too, did his desire to help others similarly afflicted. From that came Team Type 1, which started as a business plan for an economics class, but has transformed into a professional team that raises worldwide awareness for diabetes (and consists largely of diabetics themselves). The story, filled with cycling jargon, will appeal to enthusiasts of the sport (Southerland details many of his triumphs, including a pair of 3,000-mile, cross-country team victories). But even those with no connection to bicycles should be as inspired by his current awareness work as his struggles to arrive here.
Customer Reviews
Jason Boyd
I highly recommend "Not Dead Yet" to any parent of a Type 1 debetic child. Phil's story is inspiring and provides a view that Type 1 Diabetes doesn't have to stop you from doing anything. He shows very clearly that it's up to you to incorporate the management into your daily life to achieve, and not limit your potential. As a Father showing my 5 year old Diabetic Daughter this disease won't slower her down, Phil's story reaffirmed my approach on management of the disease and gave me more tips. Essential reading for diabetics and diabetic supporters.
Must read
This is a fantastic story of inspiration and hope. Phil is a role model not only for diabetics, but for anyone with a dream and the determination to succeed!