Strength of the Human Spirit

Inspiration arises in these poems and musings from a surprising source: a heroin overdose at age 23 that put Jade Bell into a coma.

He awoke blind and stricken with dystonia, a crippling illness that has left him paralysed, blind and mute.

He now communicates by moving his head side-to-side to tap out messages in Morse code with the help of a computer.

Bell's poetry is born of a mind trapped in a body that won't respond - seething with rage, burning with regret, brimming with hope.

Partly tribute to a father since lost to cancer, "Strength of the Human Spirit" maps the energies of a survivor and demonstrates the support needed to endure adversity.

It is illustrated with photographs of Bell's life and loves, and interspersed with correspondence from his father.