Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Except if purchased over the 'net, this book is not available in Australia. This is a definite shame, as Ms Andersen's story is one that needs to be told. I was lucky enough to be given a copy, and I found it absolutely gripping. If you're like me, you'll be pleasantly surprised at what this book is -not-....
This isn't just a book about the airline industry - don't make that mistake. It's much, much more. And it's not just dry facts and figures. Ms Andersen gives the reader a deep and clear glimpse into her soul as she chronicles her life leading up to the accident which changed her life, and her struggle with the union and her employers after the event.
It's also not a 'poor me' story. Throughout, the author is honest about her own mistakes and misjudgments, and her sincerity and honesty shine through clearly.
To me, this is a story about fear, betrayal and the phoenix-like rebirth of a soul. Ms Andersen emerges as a complete - albeit scarred - person from a situation which came close to breaking her. Even if you have no interest in the airline industry (although the statistics are quite amazing!) you will find Ms Andersen's story utterly compelling.
I would consider this to be a 'must read' book. Beware, though - once you get into this book, you won't rest until you've finished it!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Broken Wings: A Flight Attendant's Journey
Nattanya Andersen's cherished career as a flight-attendant for one of the world's largest airlines careened to a halt when a jet-engine-explosion five feet away from her mid-air left her with post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD). The mental health professions' apparent lack of knowledge concerning the treatment of PTSD-sufferers, and Nattanya's desire to help herself, lead her to search for empirical studies on PTSD and other health-issues and dangers facing air-crew--and by extension their passengers--on a daily basis. In Broken Wings Nattanya documents the symptoms and repercussions of PTSD, and portrays the treatment an injured-at-work employee, in particular if ill with PTSD, can expect to receive from the employer, the Workers' Compensation Board, and the Union. Interwoven with her struggle against the system are chapters about air-rage, air-quantity and quality in aircraft-cabins; airplanes as illness-incubators; cosmic-radiation-exposure; turbulence; air-traffic-control; pilot-training; flight-phobia and anxiety, and air-crew-duty-times, all backed up by data from dozens of scientific studies. Nattanya also gives us insight into the air-crew-lifestyle, the role of flight-attendants, and passengers' on-board behavior. But Broken Wings is not just about the aviation-industry, and it is not just dry facts and figures. It is a story about fear, betrayal and the phoenix-like rebirth of a soul from the moment of the accident to the time when Nattanya emerges as a complete - albeit scarred - person from a situation which came close to breaking her. It is an utterly compelling story, even for readers who have no interest in the airline-industry. In light of the September 11, 2001 events and the regularly occurring aircraft-crashes and incidents worldwide leaving uncounted numbers of passengers and crew with PTSD, Broken Wings indeed makes timely and gripping reading.
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