A Shot of Hope: Stories of Quiet Resilience

A Shot of Hope: Stories of Quiet Resilience by John Travers

‘This remarkable book of real-life experiences in often the most challenging circumstances will inspire you by finding hope where others might see only despair.’ – Professor Tony Holohan

‘This writing is like a love letter to medicine.’ – Dr Aisling Ní Shúilleabháin

‘This is narrative medicine at its best.’ – Professor Marie Murray

‘In this wonderful book about human resilience and hope, John Travers reminds us that it is in the simple acts that people shine and support each other in the most difficult of times. John makes the compelling case that it is the fundamental decency of humans that will always prevail, however difficult or trying the circumstances.’ – Professor Luke O’Neill

A Shot Of Hope is remarkable storytelling about universal human resilience witnessed through a doctor’s lens. It spans three continents and two decades. From the backstreets of Kolkata to the busiest emergency department in the world, to a women’s prison, resilience may live in the simplest of acts and words. It is a quiet, persistent belief that in the end, despite all challenges thrown our way, we will not only survive, but thrive. The voices of people who teach us what it is to be truly resilient grow louder as John Travers’ reflections on his medical training and work unfold.

All of us have the power to find strength at life’s most vulnerable moments. Sometimes we forget this. Travers reminds us of one of our greatest gifts.

A Shot of Hope cover more than ten years in the life of a medical doctor as he spends time training in specialities as diverse as obstetrics, psychiatry and emergency medicine, and working across Europe, Africa and Asia, dealing with everything from homelessness to Covid-19. This beautifully written book will enrapture all readers with an interest in what it truly means to be human.

John Travers is a general practitioner in Dublin and clinical senior lecturer at the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin. He has a PhD from his award-winning research on building resilience and reversing frailty. He was the founding CEO of several international clean energy companies and chairperson of not-for-profit social enterprises. He has worked as a healthcare volunteer in India, Tanzania, Ghana and Ireland. He has twice won the Royal College of General Practitioners Sheppard Award for medical writing.