One doctor’s courageous fight to save a small town from a silent epidemic that threatened the community’s future―and exposed a national health crisis. When Dr. Will Cooke, an idealistic young physician just out of medical training, set up practice in the small rural community of Austin, Indiana, he had no idea that much of the town was being torn apart by poverty, addiction, and life-threatening illnesses. But he soon found himself at the crossroads of two unprecedented health-care disasters: a national opioid epidemic and the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak ever seen in rural America. Confronted with Austin’s hidden secrets, Dr. Cooke decided he had to do something about them. In taking up the fight for Austin’s people, however, he would have to battle some unanticipated foes: prejudice, political resistance, an entrenched bureaucracy―and the dark despair that threatened to overwhelm his own soul. : Canary in the Coal Mine is a gripping account of the transformation of a man and his adopted community, a compelling and ultimately hopeful read in the vein of Hillbilly Elegy, Dreamland, and Educated.
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Tracks
Opening Credits
Dedication
Authors' Note
Introduction: Forged by Fire
Chapter 1: Welcome to Little Hazard
Chapter 2: Blood and Tears
Chapter 3: Too Close to Home
Chapter 4: Sharks in the Water
Chapter 5: Forsaken
Chapter 6: Surrender in the Amazon
Chapter 7: Lessons Not Learned
Chapter 8: Scarlet Letters
Chapter 9: Love Versus Fear
Chapter 10: The Law of Love
Chapter 11: Voices
Chapter 12: Any Positive Change
Chapter 13: The Other Side of Hell
Chapter 14: A Broken Ballerina
Chapter 15: Undone
Chapter 16: The Tragedy of Bias
Chapter 17: Stubborn Roots
Chapter 18: A More Excellent Way
Chapter 19: Learning to Thrive
Chapter 20: Golden Scars
Epilogue: Hope Revealed
Appendix A: Ten Biblical Principles of Harm Reduction
Appendix B: The Social Determinants of Health
Appendix C: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress