The Awakening of HK Derryberry: My Unlikely Friendship with the Boy Who Remembers Everything

(Paperback)

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The Awakening of HK Derryberry is the inspiring story of the amazing relationship between a successful business executive and a young, disabled boy with a dismal future. Little did Jim Bradford know the transformational potential of that friendshipfor HK and himself.

HK Derryberry came into the world with the odds stacked heavily against him. He was taken from his unmarried mothers womb three months prematurely when she was killed in a car wreck. After ninety-six days of seesawing between life and death, HKs grandmother took him home.

One Saturday morning, Jim Bradford, a successful businessman in his mid-fifties, walked into Mrs. Winners Chicken and Biscuits and saw a nine-year-olds head pressed against a broken plastic boom box with a crooked antenna. He couldnt help but notice the long, white plastic braces on each of the childs legs. Mr. Bradford learned that HKs grandmother had been forced to bring him to the fast-food restaurant where she worked, leaving him to sit alone all day at a small table with only his boom box for company. Every Saturday Jim felt drawn back to the restaurant to meet with HK and began spending every weekend with him.

Eventually it became apparent that buried beneath HKs severe disabilities was a spectacular ability. He was diagnosed with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), which enabled him to remember everything that happened to him since the age of three. Less than one hundred people have been diagnosed with HSAM, but none of them have the physical disabilities of HK Derryberry.

In this moving true story, you will:

• Explore Jim and HKs enduring sixteen-year friendship and the discovery of HKs remarkable gift of memory
• Be inspired to look deeper into the way you see others
• See how God works in the lives of His children, despite their circumstances

This incredible story shines a light on the struggles and the courage people with physical, emotional, and mental limitations have. Be prepared to see how God works through it all to bring joy into the lives of those who trust Him.

Author Bio

Jim Bradford began a successful sales career with the Xerox Corporation in 1968. He entered the apparel industry in 1983 as the Division President of Sales for a traditional men's clothing manufacturer. In 1985, at the invitation of the British Trade Council, Jim had the honor of presenting a new line of English tailored clothing to HRH Prince Charles and Princess Diana as part of their royal visit to Washington, DC. He now works in the industrial uniform industry as a Senior National Account Executive for UniFirst Corporation. Jim has a BS degree from the University of North Alabama, and lives in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife, Brenda. They have two grown daughters and two grandchildren. Andy Hardin has known Jim Bradford over twenty-five years through church and was part of his Saturday morning tennis group when Jim first met HK. Jim introduced Andy to HK early in their friendship, and he closely followed their adventures throughout the years. After reading Jim's treasured tales of HK's many anecdotes, Andy offered his help to further develop the story. Andy is a retired attorney living in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Connie.