Author: Amy Racina
Published by Elite Books
ISBN: 0-9710888-9-6

The following review was contributed by: Mary Simmons: Click Here To Read Mary's Reviews

Some stories are almost too incredible to believe. They read like fiction
even though they are fact and inspire all who read them to look beyond
themselves and find faith in a higher power.

Such is the story of Amy Racina, who has published her memoir, 'Angels in
the Wilderness,' an account of her sixty-foot fall in the Sierra Nevada
mountains and her subsequent struggle to survive and thrive after breaking
both her legs.
The author relays how she lay in a remote area of Kings Canyon National Park
at least 25 miles from the nearest trailhead believing she would die and
fighting to stay alive for four days before she heard two toots of a whistle
and was rescued by three people she refers to as her wilderness angels, Jake
Van Akkeren, Leslie Bartholic and Walter Keiser.
Racina shares her belief that there was a greater design or purpose behind
her rescue.

First, her three rescuers almost cancelled their trip because one of them
was recently injured. When she learns this, she feels the touch of divine
purpose, saying: ".these three have been sent to find me, guided by some
force greater than any of us. It is not just chance that they are here now
to pluck me out of this vast expanse of deserted wilderness. I don't believe
in coincidence. I do believe in miracles."

Second, Jake, who hears her cry for help and is the first human contact she
has in days, is actually hard of hearing, but was able to discern her call
and perceive her need.

Third, she is told her rescuers would not have heard her if she would have
stayed where she had fallen. She claims it was miraculous guidance that
enabled her to drag herself to where she could be heard.

Fourth, when Walter goes for help he comes across a camp of vacationing
firefighters, who are able to use their skills to assist Racina in her time
of peril. "The willingness of those firefighters to respond.made the
difference between life and death for me," she acknowledges.

The timing was also incredible. According to the medical staff who treat her
at the University Medical Center in Fresno, if Racina had been rescued one
day later she could have lost her right leg and infection could have spread
to her vital organs.

Having no health insurance, Racina was worried her medical bills would ruin
her financially, but the miracle continued. Family members, friends and
strangers came to her aid after she was released from the hospital, giving
her a place to stay and paying for her home care treatments. Her physical
therapists also donated their time to help her get back on her feet. But
most importantly for her financial well-being, Racina was granted
retroactive Medi-Cal for the month of August 2003. She was in the hospital
from Aug. 8-30 of that year and consequently $289,000 of her $300,000
medical bill was paid by the California Department of Health Services.
"This seems to me the final miracle of my salvation," she says. "I am
rescued from financial destruction. Surely the world is a hospitable place,
if these kinds of miracles can happen, if people in hardship can receive
help when they need it so desperately."

'Angels in the Wilderness' is an inspirational tale of one woman's
miraculous recovery from a horrible accident. It will make you laugh, cry
and appreciate the angels in your own life.