Just the Way He Was Before

While out with his family one night, six-year-old Andrew Bateson feels suddenly feverish. Although they do not yet know it, Andrew has bacterial meningitis, one of the fastest and deadliest of all infections.


Over the next three weeks, as Andrew lies in a coma, the hospital fights an often minute-by-minute battle to keep him alive. Overwhelmed, Andrew's parents pull away from each other, and their friends wonder if the marriage will survive. While doctors ultimately saved Andrew's life, they weren't able to save his legs. Both had to be amputated below the knees. Some questioned whether he would ever walk again. Yet as he recovered, Andrew stunned his family by saying he wanted to play ice hockey. What happened next stunned them even more.


Just the Way He Was Before is a true story of unexpected triumph—of medicine, family, and faith. And of the human spirit itself.