Sports Media Report
Lessons in Resilience, Courage and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines honors front-line healthcare workers—recounting the gripping, first-hand stories of their struggles through the pandemic. With empathetic guidance from Bob Delaney—internationally recognized in the field of Post-Traumatic Stress—Heroes are Human is at the forefront of new books that deal with this critical issue, deepening our understanding of the toll this work has taken and offering invaluable strategies for self-care and healing. His message to frontline workers—not all wounds bleed, and invisible wounds may hurt as much as the wounds we see.
The book is co-authored with award-winning journalist Dave Scheiber, and contains a foreword by renowned Harvard Global Mental Health director Dr. Richard Mollica. Publication date is September 27, 2022 by City Point Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster.
Heroes Are Human is comprised of powerful stories told by frontline health-care workers, their family members, and those they care for in the harrowing fight against COVID-19. In addition, Delaney shares lessons on how caregivers can navigate the resulting stress and potential burnout through an uplifting message of resilience, self-care, and post-traumatic stress education.
Delaney comes by his healing wisdom from hard-won experience. He learned about PTSD firsthand, developing the condition after emerging from grueling and prolonged undercover police work in a three-year undercover infiltration of the Mafia in the 1970s. He went on to become one of the NBA’s top referees for twenty-five years.
But it’s what Delaney does off the court that has truly defined his legacy. Since recovering from the trauma, he has made helping others overcome the condition his life’s focus. His contributions to PTS awareness and support to military officials and their families have been recognized with honors and proclamations from many, including:
• President Barack Obama’s Volunteer Service Award for Delaney’s ongoing PTS education and awareness work with the military
• Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Mannie Jackson Human Spirit Award, 2014
• Tragedy Assistance Programs for Survivors (TAPS) with the National Community Partnership Award for his work with military Gold Star families (2017) and is a TAPS Advisory Board member
• U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal in 2011 for his assistance in the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings and his work with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Special Advisor for the Southeastern Conference and an NBA Cares Ambassador
• 2020 National Collegiate Athletic Association’s highest honor—The Theodore Roosevelt Award, bestowed on four U.S. Presidents (Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan) and other distinguished citizens
• Harvard Global Mental Health Trauma Recovery alumnus; presents globally on leadership, resiliency, trauma, self-care
Delaney and Scheiber have collaborated on two previous books. Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob – the thrilling story of Delaney’s experience as a young Jersey State Trooper and his undercover investigation of the Mafia, named a USA Today 2008 Best Book of the Year (Sterling Publishing, 2008); and Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post Traumatic Stress, which shares stories of courageous women and men who experienced trauma and how they successfully dealt with it (Sourcebooks, 2011).
What They Say About Heroes are Human
“Bob Delaney speaks straight from the heart and from hard-earned experience. His practical approach to coping with the ‘operational stress’ of life reaches every audience. The beauty of those who work to heal shines through in this book.”
—Catherine S. O’Neal, MD, Chief medical officer, Our Lady of the Lake Hospital Baton Rouge; associate professor of medicine, infectious diseases, LSU Health Sciences Center
“With his special gift for storytelling, Bob Delaney brings us into the world of those on the front lines in our battle with coronavirus. This is a story that needs to be told, and Heroes Are Human tells it brilliantly.”
—General (Ret.) Martin E. Dempsey, 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
“Bob Delaney speaks with great authenticity to those among us who have experienced trauma. He has brought a message of hope to scores of wounded warriors and now is offering his message of resilience in the face of distress to frontline clinicians in the struggle against COVID-19.”
—Dr. Gregory Fricchione, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital
