The Awakening of HK Derryberry: My Unlikely Friendship with the Boy Who Remembers Everything

by Jim Bradford, Andy Hardin (With)

Overview

The Awakening of HK Derryberry is the inspiring story of the amazing relationship between a successful business executive and a young, disabled boy with a dismal future. Little did Jim Bradford know the transformational potential of that friendship—for HK and himself.

HK Derryberry came into the world with the odds stacked heavily against him. He was taken from his unmarried mother’s womb three months prematurely when she was killed in a car wreck. After ninety-six days of seesawing between life and death, HK’s grandmother took him home.

One Saturday morning, Jim Bradford, a successful businessman in his mid-fifties, walked into Mrs. Winner’s Chicken and Biscuits and saw a nine-year-old’s head pressed against a broken plastic boom box with a crooked antenna. He couldn’t help but notice the long, white plastic braces on each of the child’s legs. Mr. Bradford learned that HK’s grandmother had been forced to bring him to the fast-food restaurant where she worked, leaving him to sit alone all day at a small table with only his boom box for company. Every Saturday Jim felt drawn back to the restaurant to meet with HK and began spending every weekend with him.

Eventually it became apparent that buried beneath HK’s severe disabilities was a spectacular ability. He was diagnosed with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), which enabled him to remember everything that happened to him since the age of three. Less than one hundred people have been diagnosed with HSAM, but none of them have the physical disabilities of HK Derryberry.

In this moving true story, you will:

• Explore Jim and HK’s enduring sixteen-year friendship and the discovery of HK’s remarkable gift of memory
• Be inspired to look deeper into the way you see others
• See how God works in the lives of His children, despite their circumstances

This incredible story shines a light on the struggles and the courage people with physical, emotional, and mental limitations have. Be prepared to see how God works through it all to bring joy into the lives of those who trust Him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780718081607
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,011,809
File size:	676 KB

About the Author

 

 

Andy Hardin has known Jim Bradford over twenty-five years through church and was part of his Saturday morning tennis group when Jim first met HK. Jim introduced Andy to HK early in their friendship, and he closely followed their adventures throughout the years. After reading Jim’s treasured tales of HK’s many anecdotes, Andy offered his help to further develop the story. Andy is a retired attorney living in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Connie.

Table of Contents

Prologue: An Aimless Existence 1

1 A Twenty-Five-Cent Cup of Coffee 3

2 The Pint-Sized Pickpocket 9

3 Groundhog Day 15

4 "I'll Never Forget You for the Rest of My Life" 21

5 Precious Pearl and the Family Tree 25

6 Quittin' Time 31

7 Life-Giving Decision 35

8 Miracle Baby 39

9 Sunday's Child 43

10 Reality Set In 47

11 Borrowing My Eyes 51

12 School Challenges 57

13 Brebda's Surprise 63

14 No Tree, No Lights, No Santa 69

15 "I Just Know Dates" 73

16 "Will You Stay Until I Say My Prayers?" 81

17 "Don't Worry; Mr. Bradford Is a Good Driver" 85

18 Bluegrass and Friends 93

19 Cover Story 101

20 "You Know, I'm Famous" 109

21 The World's Best Blind Pilot 115

22 Proud to Be a Rotarian 125

23 Divine Intervention 131

24 William Returns 139

25 Driving and Riding Blind 145

26 Football Rivalries 151

27 The Game Jersey 157

28 Dreaming Big 163

29 Sixteenth Birthday 167

30 Speaking to Thousands 175

31 The Flood 181

32 A Gift of Memory 189

33 King of the Prom 197

34 "I Think She Would Have Loved Me" 203

Epilogue: New Life Awakening 211

Acknowledgments 213

About the Authors 215

Editorial Reviews

You never know when a 25-cent cup of coffee will forever change your life. That was the case for Jim Bradford when he met young H.K. Derryberry, a kid born blind and with numerous nearly fatal health concerns. Milton Bagby narrates this amazing story with excitement and eagerness. It’s as though he can’t wait to catch the listener up on all God has accomplished through this relationship. Bagby’s seasoned vocal inflections and varied pace cue the listener to the many jovial, sometimes concerning, and often surprising twists and turns of this remarkable friendship. Bagby delivers the memorable story in a way that keeps the listener hanging on every word. T.D. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2017 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2017 - AudioFile

You never know when a 25-cent cup of coffee will forever change your life. That was the case for Jim Bradford when he met young H.K. Derryberry, a kid born blind and with numerous nearly fatal health concerns. Milton Bagby narrates this amazing story with excitement and eagerness. It’s as though he can’t wait to catch the listener up on all God has accomplished through this relationship. Bagby’s seasoned vocal inflections and varied pace cue the listener to the many jovial, sometimes concerning, and often surprising twists and turns of this remarkable friendship. Bagby delivers the memorable story in a way that keeps the listener hanging on every word. T.D. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2017 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2017 - AudioFile