{"product_id":"a-reason-to-live-the-true-story-of-one-womans-love-courage-and-determination-to-survive-9780970842404","title":"A Reason to Live: The True Story of One Woman's Love  Courage and Determination to Survive","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn A Reason To Live  authors Hills and Hudson step out of the bounds of traditional true crime to present the seldom told story of the plight of victims confronting the harsh reality of being victimized once by crime and then repeatedly by the American criminal justice system. A story told with the page turning readability of a novel  A Reason To Live takes readers into the lives of members of a family determined to live again on their own terms following victimization by crime. In February of 1979  two women from Pawleys Island  South Carolina  had the misfortune to cross paths with two desperate outlaws embarked on a day long  drug induced crime spree that ultimately left five persons dead. Taken at gunpoint from their families during a robbery  the women were raped  shot  and left for dead on a cold and wet dirt road. Miraculously  one of the women survived  although a shotgun blast to her face left a permanent reminder of that fateful night. A Reason To Live is the inspirational story of the survival of Wanda Summers. Just months after being brutally victimized  as Wanda and her family began the arduous process of learning to live again  Wanda summoned her courage  and  despite suffering from horrific physical and emotional pain  she stood before her assailant in court; her dramatic and heartwrenching testimony helped persuade a jury to sentence Ronald \"Rusty\" Woomer to death for the murder of her friend. Confident that due process of law would ultimately render justice  Wanda and her family focused on rebuilding their lives  hopeful to close the tragic chapter opened by Woomer. They had no way to know that the trial was only the beginning of their involvement with the legal system. Following years of countless appeals  and  finally  a last minute stay of execution for Woomer by the U.S. Supreme Court  Wanda faced the prospect of being dragged back into court  ten years after the original crimes  to relive the nightmarish kidnap and assault. The resulting outcry thrust Wanda into the public spotlight and a course of action that would forever change the nation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648016474165,"sku":"ByrdShop_0970842406","price":257.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780970842404.jpg?v=1781706596","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/a-reason-to-live-the-true-story-of-one-womans-love-courage-and-determination-to-survive-9780970842404","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}