A Difficult Journey

In October 2023, Co-op President and CEO Rob Book woke up on a bathroom floor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia. He was still dazed when doctors told him he had experienced cardiac arrest and had nearly died — one of many significant setbacks Book experienced while waiting for a heart transplant. In the weeks that followed, Book was placed on the highest level of cardiac life support, left wondering if he would live to see Thanksgiving. 

His family’s prayers were answered when a donor heart was made available to him that month, and after four weeks of recovering in the hospital, Book returned home to Milford. In April 2024, when he returned to work full-time at the Co-op’s Greenwood headquarters, he was greeted by his DEC family with thunderous applause. After undergoing such an agonizing and uncertain journey, the Book family was hopeful the future would be less arduous. 

The family’s hopes were dashed last October when Book collapsed in his living room. He was rushed back to the University of Pennsylvania where he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. Over the coming days, Book lost the ability to move his legs, arms and, eventually, his ability to breathe. For seven days, Book was placed on a ventilator as his family prayed that his life would be spared once again. 

For the second time in two years, prayers were answered, as Book was slowly able to breathe on his own and began six months of painstaking therapy to learn how to live again.

According to Book, “It was very uncomfortable. For a couple of months, I had all these tubes and everything else running in and out of me. And there was a period after I awoke that I was completely paralyzed in bed. Being paralyzed and not able to speak, you are trapped in your own mind. It was a miserable experience, but the good Lord got me through it, and here I am today.”

For several weeks after being taken off the ventilator, Book breathed with the help of a tracheostomy but was unable to talk. He couldn’t walk or feed himself. Book knew the rehabilitation process would be daunting, but he was ready to do whatever it took to get home. 

“This was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, if not the hardest thing; just constantly working your muscles. I was too stubborn to give up and, during therapy, it just felt like every day I was able to do something I wasn’t able to do the day before,” says Book. 

Spending Christmas away from his family was heartbreaking but, as 2025 began, Book was making huge strides in his recovery. On January 17, he walked for the first time since his diagnosis, and it finally seemed possible that he might make a full recovery. He returned home in February and was back at work by March. Book says he’s learned a number of important lessons as a result of his difficult journey. First, he encourages everyone to pay attention to their health — get an annual physical and screenings. Most important, he says to never take anything for granted. Life is precious, especially the time spent with family and friends. 

“I love working at DEC, and I love coming to work, but I also love being at home with my family,” Book says. “I love being at home, doing things there, going on vacation — those are the memories that we’re all going to have well into our golden years. Enjoy your family, enjoy your life and spend as much time as possible with those you love.”