By Paula Pyzik Scott

Ada area resident Marie Gossman can add “author” to her resume–in addition to florist and farmer. Her story of surviving toxic shock syndrome is called Calls for Life Flight: A Story of Loss, Life, and the God Who Stayed.

Gossman has been interested in publishing this account for some 20 years, following her near-death experience. Doctors told her she had a 5% chance of survival from the bacterial infection.

The title of the book refers to her hearing first responders discuss whether she could be life-flighted–in her altered status, she thought they were talking about someone else.

Initially, Gossman’s doctor didn’t think her condition was serious, but she got sicker and sicker. 

While recuperating, Gossman dictated her story to an ONU senior writing major, Erica Ranley, who helped her put the experience on paper. For many years, Gossman distributed a 20-page pamphlet in the hope it would save others from having a similar experience.

Eventually, Gossman found an editor in Findlay, who worked with her to expand the work into a book and get it published on Amazon and Kindle. The book is published under a pen name, Cleo Anna Hamilton, which combines the names of Gossman’s grandmothers.

The resulting book is “raw and from the heart,” says Gossman. Her recovery--physical, spiritual and emotional--was very slow. But her determination to find an audience for Calls for Life Flight has been enduring.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marie and her husband Adam farmed for 45 years--raising hogs, cattle, corn, beans and wheat--and she ran a floral shop. The Gossmans have three children and three grandchildren.

SYNOPSIS
When Anna survives a life-threatening illness, coming home feels like a miracle—but healing is only just beginning.

Weak in body and uncertain in mind, Anna returns to the quiet comfort of her farmhouse, where her husband Adam has lovingly rearranged their world to care for her. A bed moved downstairs, IV bags hung with care, and countless unseen sacrifices become daily reminders that love often speaks loudest through action.

As months pass, Anna navigates the slow, uneven road of recovery, grappling with fear, frustration, and the lingering effects from her illness. With faith as her anchor, she learns that healing is not merely physical, but spiritual and emotional as well. Encouragement arrives through devoted family, compassionate doctors, and the gentle reassurance of God’s presence in the smallest details.
From the joy of hearing long-awaited good news to the courage it takes to return to everyday life, Anna’s journey is one of resilience, gratitude, and rediscovered purpose. This is a story of survival, steadfast love, and the quiet miracles that carry us through our hardest seasons.