Healing Lives

Two incredible women, an unlikely friendship, and a united mission to save the lives of some of the world's poorest and most desperate women.

Healing Lives reveals the untold tale of Mamitu Gashe, Dr Catherine Hamlin's protégée, and the inspiring almost 60-year friendship between the two women.

In 1962, three years after doctors Catherine and Reg Hamlin arrived in Ethiopia, an illiterate peasant girl sought their aid. Mamitu Gashe was close to death and horrifically injured during childbirth after an arranged marriage - at the age of just fourteen to a man she'd never met - in a remote mountain village.

The Hamlins' Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital saved her and, in return, Mamitu dedicated her life to Catherine's mission. Under the iconic doctor's guidance, Mamitu went from mopping floors and comforting her fellow patients, to becoming one of the most acclaimed fistula surgeons in the world, despite never having had a day's schooling.

This is the moving story of the friendship that saved the lives of over 60,000 of the poorest women on earth.

About the Author

Sue Williams is the author of a number of bestselling books, including Father Bob: The Larrikin Priest; Women of the Outback; No Time For Fear the story of shark attack survivor Paul de Gelder and Mean Streets, Kind Heart: The Father Chris Riley Story.

Her other books include Left for Dead; Outback Spirit; Welcome to the Outback; Peter Ryan: The Inside Story and And Then The Darkness, about the disappearance of the British backpacker Peter Falconio, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Gold Dagger Award in the UK for the true crime book of the year, and the Ned Kelly Awards in Australia.

Also an award-winning journalist, Sue was born in England, and worked in print and television in the UK and New Zealand. She spent many years travelling around the world before falling in love with Australia in 1989. Since settling here, she has written for many of Australia's leading newspapers and magazines.

Sue's book, Father Bob, inspired the first edition of Penguin's immersive, interactive online reading experience, True Stories. She lives in Sydney's Kings Cross with her partner, writer Jimmy Thomson.