Saigon Siren: Memoir of a Stroke Recovery

When a near-fatal stroke gate-crashes his family holiday in Vietnam, Antonio must fight to stay alive.

At the surprisingly young age of thirty-eight, he thought he had lost everything. As he lay completely paralysed in an intensive care unit, trapped in a foreign country with his distraught young family by his side, his life completely turned upside down.

After a harrowing rescue flight home to Melbourne, Antonio realises his journey has only just begun. Challenged by his inability to sit, stand, walk, or even talk, he must confront the emotional anguish, the highs and lows, and the heartache and pain that accompany the gruelling rehabilitation process as he adjusts to his new normal.

Saigon Siren is an alarmingly honest and refreshingly humorous account of Antonio’s ongoing battle with the dirty stroke demon Vaughn, as he came to call it. He details his meandering road to recovery with endearing intimacy and amusing anecdotes-the kinds of stories you never hear. Unfolding into a delicate and uplifting quest for self-discovery, Antonio shares the healing power of creativity, love, and peace as he stumbles through the seemingly countless obstacles his new disability presents.