Canary in the Coal Mine

One doctor’s courageous fight to save a small town from a silent epidemic that threatened the community’s future―and exposed a national health crisis. When Dr. Will Cooke, an idealistic young physician just out of medical training, set up practice in the small rural community of Austin, Indiana, he had no idea that much of the town was being torn apart by poverty, addiction, and life-threatening illnesses. But he soon found himself at the crossroads of two unprecedented health-care disasters: a national opioid epidemic and the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak ever seen in rural America. Confronted with Austin’s hidden secrets, Dr. Cooke decided he had to do something about them. In taking up the fight for Austin’s people, however, he would have to battle some unanticipated foes: prejudice, political resistance, an entrenched bureaucracy―and the dark despair that threatened to overwhelm his own soul. : Canary in the Coal Mine is a gripping account of the transformation of a man and his adopted community, a compelling and ultimately hopeful read in the vein of Hillbilly Elegy, Dreamland, and Educated.

1. Opening Credits
2. Dedication
3. Authors' Note
4. Introduction: Forged by Fire
5. Chapter 1: Welcome to Little Hazard
6. Chapter 2: Blood and Tears
7. Chapter 3: Too Close to Home
8. Chapter 4: Sharks in the Water
9. Chapter 5: Forsaken
10. Chapter 6: Surrender in the Amazon
11. Chapter 7: Lessons Not Learned
12. Chapter 8: Scarlet Letters
13. Chapter 9: Love Versus Fear
14. Chapter 10: The Law of Love
15. Chapter 11: Voices
16. Chapter 12: Any Positive Change
17. Chapter 13: The Other Side of Hell
18. Chapter 14: A Broken Ballerina
19. Chapter 15: Undone
20. Chapter 16: The Tragedy of Bias
21. Chapter 17: Stubborn Roots
22. Chapter 18: A More Excellent Way
23. Chapter 19: Learning to Thrive
24. Chapter 20: Golden Scars
25. Epilogue: Hope Revealed
26. Appendix A: Ten Biblical Principles of Harm Reduction
27. Appendix B: The Social Determinants of Health
28. Appendix C: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress
29. Closing Credits