Purple heart /
[Taʻafuli Andrew Fiu].
- Auckland, N.Z. : Random House New Zealand, 2006.
- 319 pages : color illustrations ; 20 cm
Andrew Fiu came to Ponsonby, Auckland, as a three-year-old, part of the wave of immigration from Samoa that turned Auckland's inner city suburbs into a vibrant cultural melting pot. At 14, he was misdiagnosed as having flu when, in fact, he had rheumatic fever, a disease endemic in Pacific Island communities. As a result of the damage to his heart, he was rushed to hospital. Since that time, Andrew has had five open heart surgeries, a record anywhere. He has spent so much time in the hospital that he says he grew up there, experiencing tender and expert care from doctors and nurses but also enduring appalling racism. This memoir is the story of his hospital years, his clashes with his parents' traditional attitudes, the wisdom he learnt from his fellow patients and the medical miracles performed on his heart by famous surgeon Alan Kerr. It's also the story of growing up Samoan in Auckland in the 1970s and 1980s, a reminder of the bad old days when schools made Pacific Island children anglicise their names and hospitals did not have translators, an insight into the inter-generational tensions in Pacific Island migrant families, and a testimony to love and deep friendship, written with grace, insight and bucketloads of humour.