Irede book review– an unending story of hope indeed

“Based on a true story.”

Five harmless words that can leave you scarred for life.

Usually, this is my reaction when I see those words:

And should have been my reaction when I read Helter Skelter in my early teens. But I digress.

The Irede book, however, is anything but scary.

About Irede

A man. His wife. Their baby. A crisis. An opportunity. A result. An impact

That’s the story of this book.

This is a book about responding to challenges in children. And the fact is, every child has a challenge. Some are social, others physical while others are difficult to define.

Irede had a medical peculiarity that was a crisis and source of concern. The parents had a choice to make. Thankfully their response made a difference.

The parents used the combination of faith, medical research and social support to respond to this crisis. They made a decision and got a result. Today, that decision has made a difference in their lives and countless others.

Journey with Crystal as she walks you through her inspirational story of hope, love and courage under fire.

Irede is the author’s daughter. She was born with tibia hemimelia and had to amputate her leg. This book tells the story of her parents’ journey to finding a solution– it wasn’t an easy one.

I felt Crystal’s sadness because I know what it’s like to look for a solution where there seems to be none. My parents went through the same thing when they discovered I was developing hearing loss.

Back in secondary school where it started, whenever I had the chance to leave the confines of boarding school for hearing tests, I would be so happy.

Sleeping in my bed and forgoing boarding house food, was always welcome. I was an unbothered, carefree teen. But it wasn’t the same for my parents.

One doctor I visited with my mum told us unkindly that there was no solution to my hearing loss.

I remember thinking it was not the end of the world, and at that point, I had gotten tired of visiting hospitals. I remember my mum’s face being forcibly tight after this meeting like she was trying not to show emotions.

Read also: Living with hearing loss in Nigeria: ‘I for don blow but I too dey press phone’ book review.

With my adult eyes now, I see that she was fighting tears and trying to not break down in public. Of course, I never considered that; I expected my parents to be carefree like me.

However, reading Crystal talk about dealing with disability from a parent’s viewpoint broke my heart and made me want to give my parents a big hug.

Lessons from reading the Irede book

This book left me thankful for a lot.

I’m thankful for everyone around Crystal and her husband, who supported them when they needed it. Especially the friends who reminded her that Irede had to go to school, that her daughter losing her legs didn’t mean she couldn’t live fully and do things like other kids.

“A pain we know is a pain we can heal.”

I love how Crystal’s experience with Irede inspired her to help other parents in the same boat.

I love that it made her set up the Irede foundation, which gets prostheses for kids who cannot afford them.

Overcoming her mountain enabled her to help other parents see that they could move those mountains too.

In summary, this was an eye-opening and cathartic read.

Where to get

I have no idea where it’s sold. But you could request it from the author’s Instagram pages: Irede Foundation and Crystal Chigbu.