Code Red
Andrew J Drain
ISBN 9780906747407, CMF, 2010,
£3 from CMF Bookstore
How would you react knowing that you only had a few more months to live? Andrew J Drain, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the peak of his career, experiences a role reversal after he is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. One day he was a doctor making a living treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.
In an effortless manner, he aptly weaves together Job's story with his own, delving into some of our most basic questions about suffering. Although he knows his death is imminent, he has a strong confidence that his suffering is of the Lord's permission and that God is in control of his suffering. This gives hope to those who are suffering not just from chronic illness but from other conditions — pointing to the ultimate sufferer who has been there before us and will be with us through it all.
Code Red is not all sombre though; it is presented with creative and animated storytelling, taking us on a journey from the Bronx to Northern Ireland, and even on a music tour for the musical aficionados!
I highly recommend this short, rewarding book not just for those with chronic illness, but for medical practitioners, or anyone with questions on Job and suffering in general 'pointing to the hope of the gospel in the midst of despair'.
Joanna Obire is a medical student at St George's, University of London
Andrew J Drain
ISBN 9780906747407, CMF, 2010,
£3 from CMF Bookstore
How would you react knowing that you only had a few more months to live? Andrew J Drain, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the peak of his career, experiences a role reversal after he is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. One day he was a doctor making a living treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.
In an effortless manner, he aptly weaves together Job's story with his own, delving into some of our most basic questions about suffering. Although he knows his death is imminent, he has a strong confidence that his suffering is of the Lord's permission and that God is in control of his suffering. This gives hope to those who are suffering not just from chronic illness but from other conditions — pointing to the ultimate sufferer who has been there before us and will be with us through it all.
Code Red is not all sombre though; it is presented with creative and animated storytelling, taking us on a journey from the Bronx to Northern Ireland, and even on a music tour for the musical aficionados!
I highly recommend this short, rewarding book not just for those with chronic illness, but for medical practitioners, or anyone with questions on Job and suffering in general 'pointing to the hope of the gospel in the midst of despair'.
Joanna Obire is a medical student at St George's, University of London
