A New Day

Dora Barilla had the perfect life; a great job, a handsome firefighter husband, two beautiful daughters and a house in the suburbs. But on March 15, 2005, her world was turned upside down. While on a routine call, husband Tom Barilla suffered a traumatic brain injury in a horrific collision that nearly killed him, destroying Dora's perfect world.In painstaking detail, Dora recounts the days sitting by Tom's bedside as he lay in a coma, the numerous surgeries he endured, the endless hours of rehabilitation and weeks of nasty litigation that pitted the family of firefighters and the city against the California Highway Patrol and the tour bus company that crashed into Tom's fire engine.Dora tells the story of her struggle to maintain optimism for her family and friends as well as keep her own sanity. Ultimately, with faith and understanding, Dora is able to accept the challenges of her new world and embrace a new day.

Dora Barilla Dora graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Sports Medicine and later received her doctorate in Public Health from Loma Linda University, where she is currently a faculty member in the Health Policy and Management Department. She is also the executive director and founder of a not-for-profit organization, Partners for Better Health, which promotes health initiatives in local communities.