A remarkable true tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat.’—Leora Eisen, Documentary filmmaker
I MARRIED A THRILL-SEEKER
** by Danielle Kaplan **
Being a free spirit almost cost him everything…
For fans of incredible memoirs of trauma and recovery and for anyone living and loving a risk-taker, comes one man’s struggle to overcome a one percent chance at survival as told through the eyes of his wife, his high school sweetheart, who was his greatest ally…
re:book’sis thrilled to announce its’debut author Danielle Kaplan and her memoir: I Married A Thrill-Seeker: A Cautious Wife’s Memoir of Her Husband’s Risk-Taking and Their Long Road to Recovery.
When Danielle Kaplan’s type-A and adrenaline-junkie husband, Stephen Kaplan —former CFO and CEO of Deciem Beauty Group —sets off to take one last solo road trip on his BMW R1200GS Enduro motorcycle, from Toronto, Ontario to near Fairbanks, Alaska, Danielle knows it’s the last‘adrenaline rush’ trip he’ll take on the bike–he’s promised to give it up for good.
So, when Danielle husband sets off for his last solo free-spirited ride, he expects to make it home–no drama, no unnecessary risks, just the freedom of the open road and the wind on his face. But it’s the ending neither of them dreamed of when he crashes on a remote highway in the Yukon, and its hours before he can receive medical treatment, his life changed in an instant.
The treacherous stretch of road between Carmacks and Watson Lake in the Yukon called the Campbell Highway was incredibly dangerous in the rain. Steve hit a pothole and crashed–and what follows is a true testament of luck, love, and incredible fortitude as his injuries leave him with a less than one percent survival rate.
This harrowing, heartfelt memoir of Danielle’s experiences during Steve’s tragic injuries and his incredible journey to recovery as she becomes his ally in regaining his health, attempting to understand his adrenaline-junkie antics and must come to terms with everything that’s happened with living and loving a thrill-seeker and the toll this trauma will have on her life and family.
As a former speech pathologist, Danielle becomes her husband’s greatest ally–fighting by his side the entire time, through every step forward and step back, as Steve regains his health after the tragic accident.
And from the months they spend in the hospital to her husband’s eventual recovery, she reveals her truthful, mixed emotions about everything from the life saving measures used to keep him alive to the unbearable decisions she had to make about their family. This heartfelt, raw story contains the essence of the human spirit, and is filled with both determination and love.
RAW, HONEST STORY: Danielle’s straightforward storytelling results in an open, unflinching look at the realities of a trauma of this magnitude.
MIRACLES DO HAPPEN: There are so many miraculous elements to the story–from the SPOT device landing close enough to alert the authorities to the life-saving techniques of modern medicine–that prove both undeniably meaningful and attractive to readers.
MEDICAL EXPERIENCE: Danielle’s own medical experiences allows for insights into trauma and recovery unseen by non-medical professionals. This allows for an element of expertise in the novel that could appeal to medical and non-medical professionals alike.
Danielle Kaplan (and/or her husband Stephen Kaplan) are available to discuss:
Being a “cautious wife”or ‘risk-adversed’and what it’s really like to live, love and be married to a thrill-seeker/Adrenaline Junkie/Sensation-Seeker
Why they went to couple’s therapy over her husband’s craving of adrenaline rush.
How she had to learn to accept a family member or loved one who enjoys taking part in extreme activities, involving physical risk. And how her husband had to learn how it feels to be married to a Thrill- Seeking, from his wife’s point of view.
Why do people thrill-seek? The high thrill and minimal stress may drive sensation-seekers to repeatedly seek out new, exciting experiences. (The brain releases more dopamine in high sensation-seekers.)
The many miraculous elements to the story–from the SPOT device landing close enough to alert the authorities to the life-saving techniques of modern medicine.
Whether thrill-seeking is a characteristic or trait that people are born with. Some researchers maintain that about 20 percent of us are thrill-seekers, or know one, and how thrill-seekers have different brain chemistry than others.
How she wrote it from a medical expert’s point of view as well as writing it from a loving wife’s POV.
How to make life or death medical decisions on behalf on someone you love who can’t.
The truck driver who miraculously found and rescued him. And how they went back to Alaska when he was recovered to visit him and his family.
The impossible toll the accident and something of this magnitude took on the entire family, including their two teenagers.
The friendships made at hospitals, especially on the trauma ward and the medical mysteries that helped saved her husband’s life.
How her husband now copes and does he still Thill-Seek?
How Stephen read his wife’s memoir and what he did and didn’t remember from his accident and miraculous recovery.
Author Bio:
Danielle Kaplan is a speech-language pathologist and movement specialist. She grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and holds a master’s degree in Speech Pathology. She and her husband Steve emigrated to Canada, where she spent twenty years working in acute teaching hospitals, in Neurology, Neurosurgery, and spinal injury. Danielle gained a certification in Pilates and then went on to train further in movement while achieving her Personal Training certification (CanfitPro), Ballet Barre for fitness training and then received her Rehab Exercise Specialization Certification. The mother of two, she lives with her husband Steve and their two fur babies in Toronto, Ontario. I Married A Thrill-Seeker is her first book.
re:books is a broad commercial independent publishing house based in Toronto, founded by Canadian bestselling author Rebecca Eckler. We believe “what’s good is read and what’s read is good.”—“re:books will publish stories that I’d personally like to devour.????I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my independent publishing house, re:books, where we’ll publish and celebrate female authors across all genres,”says Eckler. RE:Booksis committed to supporting women in writing the book Eckler believes is in each of them. RE:Booksis committed to deliver interesting topics to readers and writers alike and to actually help female authors get published. Call it a Canadian success giving back or simply following her passion for all things books, knowing Eckler, RE:Books Publishing House may be the most excited endeavour including the most talked about titles in Canadian publishing.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
