Pain Is a PrivilegeBack this book

AN UPCOMING MEMOIR BY HOPE KITTEL

Pain Is a Privilege

At sixteen, Hope sat in her high school gym reading an ACT prep article. Then her body stopped taking instructions. She's spent the years since writing about what came after. Her draft is finished. On October 18, she walked 1.26 miles in 14 hours in support of this book. She is proud of what she accomplished, and the walk also left her injured. Now, her focus is recovery. You can still back her story.

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Funding the editing and creation, the print run, and the audiobook.

Hope Kittel seated in her wheelchair beneath a willow tree, smiling in a navy polka-dot dress and pink shoes with green grass behind her.
Hope Kittel — writer and adaptive athlete

The story

What happened, and what she wrote

The moment that changed everything

A sudden neurological collapse left her quadriplegic, unable to speak, and without memory of her own family. She had to relearn how to breathe, speak, stand, and trust. Now it's time to tell her story.

“My name is Hope Kittel, and I am a Christian, adaptive athlete, survivor, and the reigning Fittest Seated Woman on Earth. Through unflinching honesty, I write about suffering, resilience, and discovering that even the deepest wounds can become places where hope takes root.”
Hope Kittel

What the book covers

The manuscript runs seven parts, moving from a childhood marked by illness through the paralysis and retrograde amnesia that followed the collapse, and into the long journey of inpatient rehab. It also covers sexual abuse. She writes about all of it directly, and asks to be read without pity. Threaded through it all is a faith that argues rather than performs—and, eventually, reaching the competition floor.

What she did next

Hope Kittel is the reigning Fittest Seated Woman on Earth, won on the adaptive CrossFit stage. In the book she writes candidly about mistaking that title for armor, and about what it did not fix.

On October 18, Hope walked 1.26 miles in 14 hours in full leg braces and a walker. She had set out to cover 2.62 miles. She is proud of what she accomplished, even though the day did not end as she had hoped.

The walk also left her injured. After two trips to the ER to address symptoms and injuries, Hope is stable and has answers. She has extremely painful injuries in her lower lumbar spine. After seeing a spine specialist, she has a plan moving forward, but another slow and humbling recovery lies ahead.

Her pride in the walk and the pain that followed are both part of this story. Neither cancels out the other. Right now, her focus is recovery, and the campaign to bring her book into the world continues.

Why this book, why now

What makes this book special

There are a lot of things you can lose without losing your life. When you have lost that much, you have to find meaning in it, or you won't get up.

That's the book. Not a recovery story with a tidy end, but an honest accounting of what it costs to keep going—written by someone still doing it.

  • A combination of experiences that almost never appear in one life, let alone one book
  • Written from inside the disorientation as it happened, not narrated from a safe distance
  • Unusual candor: she shows herself at her worst, not only her most resilient
  • A faith thread that wrestles with real doubt rather than performing certainty

If one person reads this and feels less alone, she says it is worth sharing with the world.

Why funding is needed

The first draft is finished. Roughly 114,000 words.

What's left is professional editorial work, design and printing, and an audiobook. That work costs money, and it is paid for up front.

So it's one campaign with one goal: $20,000. That covers three kinds of cost—the editorial work, the publishing work, and the audiobook version—and the breakdown below shows where every dollar goes.

Where the money goes

EditorialDevelopmental edit and the full editorial process
$10,000
PublishingDesign, layout, proofing,  printing, distribution
$7,500
AudiobookAudiobook production
$2,500
Total
$20,000

Back the book

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Hope walked 1.26 miles in 14 hours on October 18. She is now recovering from injuries sustained during the walk. The walk is over; your support still helps bring her book to readers.

One campaign, one goal

Raised
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$20,000
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Everything raised past the goal goes to marketing, getting this book in front of the readers who need it most.

  • Mile Marker

    $26.20

    $10 a mile

    Ten dollars a mile. Thank-you and campaign updates.

  • Named Supporter

    $131

    $50 a mile

    Fifty dollars a mile. Your name on the book's supporter page.

  • Includes the Book

    Founding Reader

    $262

    $100 a mile

    One hundred dollars a mile. A signed hardcover at launch, plus your name on the supporter page.

  • Book Sponsor

    $1,000+

    The whole race

    Ten signed copies at launch, plus logo placement in the book.

Or choose your own amount

Give what you can. Every amount moves this forward.

In person

The events

An update on the walk and the evening gathering.

  • The community walk

    Date:
    October 18 · Completed
    Where:
    Coal Dock Park Port Washington, Wisconsin

    Hope walked 1.26 miles in 14 hours in leg braces and a walker. She is proud of that achievement, and the walk also left her with painful lower lumbar spine injuries. After two ER visits, she is stable and has a recovery plan with a spine specialist. Her focus now is healing.

  • An evening hosted by Matt and Andrea

    Date:
    Postponed · No new date set
    Where:
    Wild & Precious Collective W62N542 Washington Ave,  Cedarburg, WI 53012

    The evening hosted by Matt and Andrea, originally scheduled for October 22 from 5–7 PM, is on pause. There is no new date to share yet. Thank you for your understanding and for continuing to support Hope and her book.

Thank you

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About

Hope Kittel

Hope Kittel is a writer and adaptive athlete. She is the reigning Fittest Seated Woman on Earth.

She has been writing this book for years. It is her first.

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