Overcome

On June 10, 2007, Carmen Blandin Tarleton’s estranged husband broke into her rural Vermont home, beat her with a baseball bat, and doused her with industrial-strength lye. Doctors called it “THE MOST HORRIFIC INJURY A HUMAN BEING COULD SUFFER.” 


Tarleton spent the next three and a half months in a medically induced coma, and when she awoke, it was to an unimaginable reality: she was blind and permanently disfigured, with burns covering more than eighty percent of her body. Her recovery would include months of painful rehab, dozens of surgeries, and total dependence on family, friends, and strangers for physical and financial care. With so much taken away, no one could have anticipated what Tarleton would gain from her experience: an awakening. A purpose. Joy. By sharing her struggles and ultimate victory over catastrophic loss, Tarleton proves that life is a choice—and, in the process, offers a rare glimpse into the best and worst corners of the human heart. 


“CARMEN IS SO UNFLINCHINGLY HONEST, SO TRANSPARENT . . . Overcome: Burned, Blinded, and Blessed is an opportunity to bask, for just for a little while, in the rays of her exceptional spirit.” 

—JONI BUSBY

SUPERVISING PRODUCER, THE DOCTORS 


“Carmen’s story is one of tragedy and triumph. She is truly an example of the strength and beauty of the human spirit. Carmen went from victim to survivor and teaches us all that we can overcome the unimaginable and create the lives we would like to live.” 

⎯JENNIFER RADICS, MBA 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALISA ANN RUCH BURN FOUNDATION 


“Carmen Tarleton's story is a riveting account of a courageous woman who teaches us all the power of fighting suffering with relentless hope and tenacity.”

 ⎯SAMIR MELKI, MD, PhD 

FOUNDER, BOST ON EYE GROUP 


“Carmen tells her inspiring story with remarkable clarity and honesty. She has endured a journey many might be unable to endure and arrived to provide the reader with wisdom, compassion, and inspiration. As heavy as the price was for Carmen, Overcome is a wonderful gift to those of us who take the time to read it. Her story is, at heart, one of a profound and courageous journey, and she has arrived with great treasures to offer us all.” 

⎯DAVID VOGEL 

PRESIDENT, BURN SURVIVORS OF NEW ENGLAND 


“Told with sincerity and grace, Overcome powerfully illustrates the unlimited resilience of the human spirit. Carmen's heart-thumping journey is at times harrowing, yet always keenly illuminating. Overcome is a bracing triumph of the soul.” 

⎯MICHAEL PAUL MASON 

AUTHOR OF HEAD CASES: STORIES OF BRAIN INJURY AND ITS AFTERMATH