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  • Published: 15 April 2012
  • ISBN: 9780307719010
  • Imprint: Crown
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $35.00

Ask Me Why I Hurt

The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them



Ask Me Why I Hurt is the first-person account of the remarkable work of Dr. Randy Christensen, a Phoenix pediatrician who treats that city's homeless adolescents from a mobile clinic (a Winnebago refitted as a doctor's office on wheels) that he drives himself. In the shadow of an affluent American city, Dr. Christensen has dedicated his life to caring for society's throwaway kids. Ask Me Why I Hurt is a devastating, yet ultimately affirmative, look at an abjectly neglected population that most Americans consistently turn a blind eye toward, and a reminder that the will of a dedicated and selfless medical team can make a lasting difference.

An unforgettable and inspiring memoir of an extraordinary doctor who is saving lives in a most unconventional way.

Ask Me Why I Hurt is the touching and revealing first-person account of the remarkable work of Dr. Randy Christensen. Trained as a pediatrician, he works not in a typical hospital setting but, rather, in a 38-foot Winnebago that has been refitted as a doctor’s office on wheels. His patients are the city’s homeless adolescents and children.

In the shadow of an affluent American city, Dr. Christensen has dedicated his life to caring for society's throwaway kids—the often-abused, unloved children who live on the streets without access to proper health care, all the while fending off constant threats from thugs, gangs, pimps, and other predators. With the Winnebago as his moveable medical center, Christensen and his team travel around the outskirts of Phoenix, attending to the children and teens who need him most.

With tenderness and humor, Dr. Christensen chronicles everything from the struggles of the van’s early beginnings, to the support system it became for the kids, and the ultimate recognition it has achieved over the years. Along with his immense professional challenges, he also describes the trials and joys he faces while raising a growing family with his wife Amy. By turns poignant, heartbreaking, and charming, Dr. Christensen's story is a gripping and rich memoir of his work and family, one of those rare books that stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

  • Published: 15 April 2012
  • ISBN: 9780307719010
  • Imprint: Crown
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $35.00

Praise for Ask Me Why I Hurt

Praise for Ask Me Why I Hurt:

  • "[An] inspiring account of a doctor who truly puts his patients' needs first...Christensen's memoir is an uplifting yet sobering read." --Publishers Weekly
  • "Proof positive that there are still heroes among us...In this sensitive and moving portrayal of caring for those most in need, Christensen shows us that it is still possible to make a difference in the world, one patient at a time." --Lisa Sanders, M.D., author of Diagnosis, and New York Times Magazine "Diagnosis" columnist