"Today I raced through the streets of Bangkok in my rescue vehicle, extracted an injured man from a truck at the port, then took him to hospital. Shortly after, in another area, I donned a fire suit and breathing apparatus and walked into a flaming building looking for trapped people and ended up rescuing a firefighter who had fallen. Later in the day I went to a house to collect a dead body and took it to the local morgue. I will do the same all night, getting attacked by street dogs, arguing with arrogant and ignorant policemen and nurses, risking being struck by unconcerned and aggressive motorists at every accident I attend, or even shot by a rival groupa" This is a normal day for New Zealander Marko Cunningham, the only foreigner to work as a volunteer ambulance officer or 'bodysnatcher' in Bangkok, Thailand. This is the story of eight years of his crazy adventures in the happy chaos that is Thailand - involving snakes, gun-toting policemen, bombings, fires, traffic accidents etc - as well as his moving first-person account of working in cadaver recovery and other aid in the popular tourist resort of Phuket, following the 2004 tsunami.
About the Author
Marko Cunningham was born in England but brought up in Wellington. He studied double degree in Linguistics and Management and became a Buddhist before working in and travelling through Asia. He is now a well-known face in Thailand and has been frequently featured by international media, including in the Lonely Planet TV series Six Degrees of Separation.
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Reviews
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Hi I'm Marko Cunningham, the Author of "Sleeping with the Dead". I would like to let you know that my website: www.bkkfreeambulance.com has many photos relating to the book and so you can literally see what I am writing about as you read. I do hope you enjoy it and follow my future exploits online.
How can a book be both uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time? I'm not really sure, but in "Sleeping with the dead", expat Kiwi Marko Cunningham manages to do it. A book that narrates his own spiritual journey through a complicated time in his life while opening the door on one of the most chaotic emergency service arrangements there is.
A foreigner in a very strange land, Cunningham lays bare his innermost thoughts as he tells of harrowing and heartbreaking experiences in the wake of the Asian Tsunami, giving an insight that few outsiders ever even glimpse. His visceral descriptions will leave you with tears in your eyes as he tries to come to terms with something that is beyond human comprehension.
Against this ordeal, he also lifts the lid on Bangkok's tumultuous volunteer ambulance services, run for the most part by charities, known as the "Body Snatchers". He speaks of the average people who, at the click of a radio, quickly become angels of mercy for those in need, facing perils from not only the environment in which they work, but sometimes from rival ambulance teams!
This book isn't action-packed. What it is packed with is a very wonderful and thought-provoking series of tales, all linked by a common thread, that will leave you contemplating more than just your own life and that of those around you.
Emergency services professionals and citizens alike will both get a lot of enjoyment from reading this book - one that keeps you thinking long after you've finished the last page.
Got the book, busy reading it and bravo, bravo, to all the Heroes who work with Marko. I salute you.
Fishpond sent the book to me in record time in South Africa where I am on holiday, before going back to Thailand.
Marko's website is excellent and I encourage people from all over the world to donate money to this very worthwhile cause. Save a life, it will oneday save yours. My quote.
Graham MacMillan
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