Locked In – Daring to Break Free

At 39, Katrin Den Elzen has a charmed life: a happy marriage, two joyful children, two university degrees, and lives in her dream city, Perth, Australia. Her world shatters overnight when her husband Mark suddenly becomes locked into his body, fully paralysed.

In this courageous, compassionate, and unflinching memoir, Katrin recounts her battle for Mark’s survival in the belly of a rigid hospital system that sees only a brain cyst and not a human being. When widowhood falls into her unwilling lap, she embarks on a quest to heal her trauma so that her two children can grow up happy, not defined by their loss. Katrin’s inner struggle unfolds as she comes to terms with multiple injustices within medical and legal institutions, from misdiagnosis to a medical negligence trial, and her struggle to emerge from these experiences without bitterness.

Katrin’s journey of recovery unfolds through love for her children, friendship, and a deep search for meaning. She becomes a spokesperson for palliative care, and immerses herself in postgraduate studies, discovering bereavement and trauma literature, neuroscientiflc insights, and the healing power of writing.

Locked In, Daring to Break Free is an exquisitely expressed, inspiring portrait of love, loss and finding peace in the face of suffering. This is a story of resilience, recovery and remaking.