Omaha woman nearly dies and pens book on her recovery from aneurysm

by Kirk Zebolsky, Omaha Literature Examiner

December 24, 2011

“Most people die,” said an Omaha woman, a first-time author, referring to her ruptured aneurysm and her chances of survival.

A “very low percentage” of people with such a rupture survive, she said in an interview.

“The majority of people who suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm don’t make it to the hospital … my recovery was really a miracle.”

She is Kim Justus, who published her book “In a Flash” in December and has been publicizing the book. It is praised by a best-selling author and by a retired Omaha World-Herald senior editor.

Justus worked for 25 years in financial services, a field that matched her college degree. But now she is a self-published author who credits the Fine Lines Writers Group and several people in particular whose editing helped her achieve a final draft.

In an email of Dec. 14, she said she “Just got the books …  It’s been available on Amazon as paperback, also Kindle, Nook & soon in iTunes. My first book signing is Saturday … It’s all so new…happened quicker than I thought.”

“In a Flash: Miracles Here and Beyond,” which has a preview at Amazon, includes how faith was involved in her recovery from the ruptured aneurysm.

Justus also is a photographer with many of her pictures displayed online. When her photos with her poetry were on display at Lauritzen Gardens, someone liked her poetry and suggested she write more. and this book followed.

She said “anyone who’s faced a life-threatening condition … or who has lost a loved one … would find my story interesting and comforting.”