Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero

Massive amounts of oxygen after a premature birth left Michael Hingson permanently blind. Rather than send their son off to an institution for blind children, Michael’s parents chose to keep him at home and raise him just the same as their other children. Because he was “main streamed” in life, as well as school, Michael learned how to adapt to a world geared toward those with the gift of sight. It is this experiences that helped him become a successful human being, eventually landing a job at a company with offices in the World Trade Center. As fate would have it, Michael and his guide dog, Roselle, were in the WTC on September 11, 2001. This book tells the story of how Michael and Roselle had to trust each other in their escape from the building.


One thing I really loved about this book was the way the story of Michael’s life was woven into the story of his escape from the WTC. It doesn’t start out as a story of his childhood and end on 9/11; it flashes from childhood stories to 9/11 and back again multiple times. The stories he tells of growing up really surprised me, there were very few times he ever let his blindness hinder his life. I also learned a great deal about the blind community and guide dogs as I was reading this book.



Disclaimer: A complimentary copy of this book was provided for review by Book Sneeze All thoughts are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.