A Second Act by Dr Matt Morgan

Reviewed by Norrie Sanders

Some people die, then live again. This book is about them. Not so much about their “near death experience” but about how they died, how they were revived and how it affected them long term. Dr Matt Morgan, an intensive care doctor, has assembled a small cast of people who have had this rare experience.  Some of the tales are astonishing, including a mountaineer who froze to death and was in cardiac arrest for a world record nine hours.

Each case study occupies a chapter that revolves around particular types of death – notably heart failure, drowning, allergy, Covid and even lightning.  These are woven with snippets of medical history and Matt’s personal journey as he reflects on family, friends and career.

This is more than just about medical curiosities and technical explanations. It goes to the core of what these people – and those who care for them – learn from the experience and how it changes their outlook on life. In turn, Dr Morgan suggests ways in which the rest of us can make better use of our (hopefully) healthy lives, without having to die in the process.

One month after Mike drowned, the village of strangers who gave him life were reunited….The first time he fished again, a shallow stream of water flowed across his boots, sending a tingle up his spine. But he was soon back to his solo ventures knowing he is always surrounded by a village of strangers [pp110-11].

He has a turn of phrase that perhaps only a medico could perfect: I met Jen’s heart six weeks before I met the rest of her body. It was suspended inside a glass container in a museum in London. Jen is the only patient in this book whose heart never did restart after it stopped. Instead, she needed to be gifted someone else’s heart to live life [p112].

Many of the lessons from these cases are not new, but they do provide reinforcement. One thing about these particular circumstances of death followed by life is how many people are prepared to come to the aid of a stricken stranger – often putting themselves in harm’s way to do so. A thoughtful and thought-provoking book – and don’t let the death references put you off – it is very much about life.

Dr Matt Morgan is a British intensive care doctor. His open letter addressed to patients during the 2020 COVID pandemic has been read by over half a million people worldwide and viewed by over two million times after featuring on the Channel 4 news. His articles have featured in the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Sunday Mirror, and Huffington Post. A regular writer for the internationally acclaimed British Medical Journal, his article ‘A letter from the ICU’ is one of their most popular ever opinion article, read by over 130,000 people in 2020. His first book, Critical, has been translated into four languages.  

A Second Act

(January 2025)

by Dr Matt Morgan

Simon & Schuster UK

ISBN: 9781398544499

$34.99 (Paperback); 272pp

 

 

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