When Nic Volker was only 2 years old, his relentless health problems began. Two long years later, he found himself on the receiving end of a dramatic and extremely rare medical breakthrough.
In 2011, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won a Pulitzer Prize for a three-part series on this Monona boy, Nic Volker, and his uphill battle against a quickly progressing, undiagnosed disease. Investigative reporters Mark Johnson and Kathleen Gallagher, the authors of the award-winning pieces, recently released a powerful, full-length narrative that recounts young Nic’s medical struggles and the Wisconsin doctors who ultimately saved his life.
In 2009, after more than 100 surgeries, doctors in both Madison and Milwaukee were still struggling to figure out what was wrong with this boy. Desperate for answers, medical professionals daringly undertook the first complete DNA gene sequencing in order to discover the cure to his mysterious illness. In One in a Billion: The Story of Nic Volker and the Dawn of Genomic Medicine (Simon and Schuster), Johnson and Gallagher chronicle both the intricate science and the heart-wrenching, intimate personalities behind this groundbreaking case. As readers follow Nic’s brave fight for his life, they also come to understand the complex passion and dedication of a team of pediatric specialists who helped make his recovery possible.
Johnson is a health and science reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he has worked since 2000. Gallagher has served as a business reporter at the Journal Sentinel since 1993. The co-authors will appear at Boswell Book Co. at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 26.
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