The Sky Was Falling

A Young Surgeon's Story of Bravery, Survival, and Hope

By: Dr. Cornelia Griggs

Narrated by: Dr. Cornelia Griggs

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER

In this “essential work that provides lasting insights and lessons for the individual and society” (Jerome Groopman, MD, New York Times bestselling author), a young pediatric surgeon and mother reveals her dramatic, cathartic diary, written as she worked on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic at one of New York City’s busiest hospitals.

For many of us, the experience of the peak pandemic was eerily incongruous. We were sequestered in our quiet homes but reminded of the devastation by the never-ending ping of news alerts. Dr. Cornelia Griggs’s experience was altogether different. A pediatric surgery fellow in New York City, she was entering the final victory lap at the end of nine grueling years of training. She was set for a big graduation celebration and looking forward to spending some real time with her husband and kids. Then came COVID-19.

Initially, Griggs encouraged her friends and family not to panic. However, as mysterious cases began showing up in the hospital, and then hospital supplies started disappearing from shelves, she couldn’t hold back the feeling that this was going to be worse than she had thought. She wrote a startling op-ed in The New York Times called “The Sky Is Falling” that went, for lack of a better word, viral. The piece was read by over a million people, and Griggs appeared on CNN.

Having once aspired to be a journalist, Griggs found that the only way to make sense of what she was witnessing around her and maintain her sanity was to keep a diary. The Sky Was Falling is her day-to-day account of what most of us were grateful to only see in the news—the sharply increasing case numbers, the dwindling supply of respirators, the lack of clarity on how to treat this new disease. Harrowing and deeply personal in the way of the best medical memoirs, it tells the story of healthcare professionals who went beyond what they thought they were capable of to heal their patients, and themselves.

©2024 Dr. Cornelia Griggs (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Thank you

To say I couldn’t stop reading is an understatement. Thank you Cornelia Griggs for your raw honestly about what it was like be a woman in pediatric healthcare during the pandemic. Thank you for putting words to feelings I have struggled to describe...For anyone who has a loved one in healthcare wondered what it was like be at the bedside during those months, Cornelia explains the experience perfectly. While I’m not a surgeon, those of us in the rooms were more connected than ever during a frightening and unprescedebted time. Thank you for sharing it so we never forget, and those of us who still carry trauma and grief can begin to grieve and heal.

A most profound look!

A most profound look at what was experienced during a global pandemic. A look at how broken, parts of the US healthcare system was and unprepared for the onslaught of Covid. The ineptitude of the federal government to respond to the needs during a pandemic, which was exacerbated by the governments denialism of what they were being told by the scientists. An outstanding memoir of the suffering and loss of many that could have been avoided had the government had better leadership.

Renewed appreciation for Healthcare workers

This is a must read (or listen), s o we never take for granted the value of those who are committed to saving lives and how Covid impacted and continues to impact or lives.

An amazing detailed life of being a first responder surgeon during the pandemic 

The bravery and lifetime commitment of this dedicated surgeon is beautifully, detailed during Covid, most challenging time in history

Why revamping our healthcare system is so very vital to all of us.

Appreciate her documenting and sharing her experiences of what so many front line workers of every level of our healthcare system lived, sacrificed and died through. The message of the dysfunction of our health care system is so important and needs to be heard. Thank you for speaking out

Self Aggrandizement in spades, oh look at me

As a father of a young ICU nurse I wanted to learn what she had experienced in the large metro med center in Pandemic. The stuff that she will not speak of like blood clot amputation in the room, like losing 9 patients in a shift, like her colleagues who developed claustrophobic anxiety from COVID suits I didn’t want to be subjected to gratuitous political views of dubious connection. George Floyd tribute section was absurdly.

Zero appreciation for Uber drivers, Starbucks workers who were also there everyday

Disliked the part where the author feels like she might need something for depression but decides not to take any medication because might effect her job search at the end of he fellowship. Just what we need, another medical book with disinformation