Mountain Top native Kurt Warner has encountered some formidable challenges in his life, but he’s found a way to deal with those obstacles.
Now, he’s written a book to help others overcome challenges they may face in their lives.
The Crestwood High School graduate suffered traumatic brain injury in 2001 when he was assaulted at a party in Nuangola. As a result of the attack, he had to have a significant portion of his brain removed, forcing him to re-learn how to walk and talk at age 18.
He has had severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) since age 5, struggled with bipolar disorder since he was a teenager, and debilitating back pain.
Rather than give up, Warner, a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) met each of those challenges head on and now has written a book aimed at helping others overcome the obstacles they face in their own lives.
The book, “Victory in Every Fall: The Antaeus Approach to Overcome Disabilities,” was released in October by Kallista Publishing.
“I’m not trying to trumpet what I’ve been through and what I’ve accomplished,” Warner said of his book. “Rather,” he said in a recent interview, “it’s about helping people realize that despite what may seem like impossible odds they can make something of themselves.”
The book, he related, is about helping people “make their yoke lighter.”
Though his bachelor’s degree from King’s College was in English, Warner felt himself drawn to social work. Having known and felt suffering, he said he developed empathy for others facing the similar obstacles.
Having earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work, the 42-year-old Warner now works as a therapist in upstate New York helping individuals overcome their own issues.
The title of his book, “Victory in Every Fall: The Antaeus Approach to Overcoming Disabilities,” not only describes how Warner has met his own life’s challenges, but also the help it offers to people facing what they may perceive as disabilities in their lives.
Warner explained that in Greek Mythology, Antaeus was a giant who was said to reside in Libya. He was the son of the sea god Poseidon and the Earth goddess Gaea and he compelled all strangers who were passing through the country to wrestle with him. Whenever Antaeus was knocked to the touched the Earth (which was his mother), his strength was renewed, so that even if thrown to the ground, he was invincible.
Warner’s 256-page guide to overcoming life’s greatest challenges, the author explained, is meant to help people like himself gain strength when they’ve been “thrown to the ground.” The book offers readers a unique approach to resilience: every time life knocks you down, it’s an opportunity to rise stronger than before.
Most readers, he explained, can use this approach is overcoming their own obstacles. “I do it every day,” Warner said of his own life. And through his work he has become proficient in helping people become stronger when they have what they consider ‘disabilities”.
“Kurt Warner’s story is nothing short of transformative,” says Anthony Raymond, CEO of Kallisti Publishing. “His candor about living with OCD, bipolar disorder, severe traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain offers readers more than hope — it provides a blueprint for turning life’s darkest moments into opportunities for growth. We believe this book will profoundly impact anyone struggling to find strength in the face of overwhelming challenges.”
The book is available through major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and directly from Kallisti Publishing.
