Never Leave Your Wingman
Dionne and Graham Warner's Story of Hope
- Publisher
- DriverWorks Ink
- Initial publish date
- Jan 2012
- Category
- Cancer
- Recommended Age
- 13 to 18
- Recommended Grade
- 8 to 12
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780981039497
- Publish Date
- Jan 2012
- List Price
- $23.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780987964359
- Publish Date
- Jan 2012
- List Price
- $13.31
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Dionne Warner is a fun-loving, seven-time cancer survivor who dresses in costume and dances into her chemotherapy treatments in Regina, SK alongside her humour-filled husband Graham, bringing laughter and hope to everyone they meet. When Dionne was diagnosed in 2001 with her third cancer, she told her then-fiancé that he did not have to marry her; she would return to her home and doctors in Toronto, Ontario. An experienced pilot, Graham quickly replied, “You never leave your wingman.” Since then, Dionne and Graham have battled this disease head-on together, with humour, strength, courage and a zest for life. This is an inspiring true story and a lesson in love.
About the authors
Awards
- Commended, Honorable Mention, Biography, Great Midwest Book Festival
Contributor Notes
Deana Driver is a journalist, author, editor and book publisher. She has been a freelance journalist for more than 30 years and has worked on more than 20 books as an author, editor, publisher or some combination of the above. Never Leave Your Wingman is her fourth book as an author. She lives in Regina, Saskatchewan and loves to laugh, mostly with, or at, her husband Al.
Excerpt: Never Leave Your Wingman: Dionne and Graham Warner's Story of Hope (by (author) Deana J. Driver; edited by Deana Driver)
Prologue
The waiting room of the Allan Blair Cancer Clinic in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada is quiet on this sunny August day. It’s almost noon and a handful of people are sitting in comfortable chairs, wondering what their doctor will tell them or what their latest test results will show.
Is the tumour still there?
Has it grown?
How am I going to tell my family?
How long do I have?
Suddenly, there is a commotion around the corner in front of the admissions desk. A song is playing very loudly – a country song – and into view comes a strikingly beautiful woman in a cowboy outfit, riding on a man’s back, shouting “Woo Hoo! Yee Ha!” at the top of her lungs.
She’s swinging a lasso and yelling, “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy!”
What the heck is going on? This is a cancer clinic. The patients who come here are very ill. They seldom smile and they NEVER cheer.
Obviously, no one told that to Dionne Warner.
Editorial Reviews
“Driver writes in simple prose, as she doesn’t need to dazzle us with flowery or overly poetic language. Dionne and Graham’s candid story is enough to inspire. Nor are we treated to a sob-story. Dionne is a real woman, who likes Whoppers, angel trinkets, worries about her sex life, is concerned for others, and wears elaborate costumes to chemo treatment. And Graham is there for her.
Never Leave Your Wingman is the hopeful story we all need.”
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