In his emotionally gripping and intensely personal memoir – Running From Tragedy, Michael Salsbury, a lifelong runner takes readers on a marathon run of a lifetime with his poignant journey of tragedy, loss, and triumph that defies every definition of unfathomable odds – that balances on the edge of believability.
Michael and Gabriella Salsbury seemingly had it all. It was a picture-perfect love story worthy of a Hollywood movie. Two childhoods haunted with memories of sadness, poverty and neglect. The young American – an athletic marathon running Colorado moutain boy. A beautiful free-spirited Austrian girl. A whirlwind romance on an exotic Caribbean island. Successful careers. World travels. A story nearly cut short, the lone victims spared in a brutal armed robbery and killing spree. They survived and continued on, creating the perfect life. A fairytale Austrian "Sounnd of Music" wedding, and a bright future full of love and adventure. But nothing in their wildest imaginations could have prepared them for what the future would hold.
The happy tale takes an unexpected and heart-wrenching turn as the couple descends into a decade-long odyssey of unimaginable grief surrounding the loss of not one – but three of their young children to a mysterious killer. It was only years later, that scientific research around the globe eventually yielded answers that would hold worldwide implications – and change the Salsbury family forever.
Throughout the unfolding saga, like therapy, running is always present, offering brief, yet welcome moments of comfort and solace in the darkest of times. Readers are introduced to the world of distance runnning and the close-knit community of ultrarunning where Salsbury takes refuge, blending it seamlessly into his story – tales of humorous and heroic feats of physical and mental endurance even non-runners will find irresistable.
In the end, it was running, three girls who gave their lives to science, a one in a million discovery, and one boy – a living breathing scientific miracle – that against all odds, brought closure and healed a bruised and battered family.
