Alive & Kicking

Rolf Benirschke was an up-and-coming placekicker for the San Diego Chargers, earning a reputation as one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history. But then a little-understood intestinal illness turned his life upside down. Alive & Kicking is the remarkable account of a young man who battled back against insurmountable odds to return to the NFL. Despite several major abdominal surgeries that left him near death and wearing an ostomy pouch, he surprised the medical community and his Chargers teammates by returning to the team and playing for seven more seasons. But Rolf's story doesn't end there. Twenty years after he received nearly 80 units of blood during his life-saving surgeries, he learned that he had been infected with the hepatitis C virus from tainted blood used during his operations. Once again, Rolf was forced to confront his mortality. Alive & Kicking is a story of fear and faith, of courage and the love of family and friends. But most of all, it is a story about the indomitable human spirit that lives in all of us. If you are looking for encouragement, especially if you or a family member has ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, hepatitis C, or is struggling with ostomy surgery Alive & Kicking is just the book for you.