Warrior’s Life

“On the morning of August 24, 1947, St. Bartholomew’s Day, a baby was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When pulling him out, the doctor must have heard a slight noise, it was the child’s delicate collarbone which had not withstood the pressure of the forceps. But there was no point regretting the incident: the newborn child was dead, asphyxiated by the fluid that had protected him for nine months in his mother’s body. In the absence of a priest, a nun from the hospital was called to give the final blessing. Then, the sound of the parents’ weeping was joined by a moan, almost a mew: the boy was alive. In a deep coma, but alive. Being born was the first challenge destiny had set Paulo Coelho, and he had survived it.”