Peter, a quadriplegic, needs help

Imagine spending the next day of your life, painfully losing the use of one arm and a leg. What would be different, and what would you lose? Life would be harder, but it would go on.  You could still write, drive, walk, visit your friends and have a job.

But here’s a bigger question.  What could you do if you lost the use of both arms, both legs, and everything else below the neck? You could still talk, see, smell, taste, hear, and breathe. You would also be able to laugh, cry and most importantly pray, but nothing more.

More significantly, what if you required medical assistance and every two hours, you needed someone’s help to keep on living?

I’ve been trying to answer these questions every day since

2004, when I was finally diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that causes demyelination of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. It is a very rare and incurable disease and with it, life became unbearably uncertain. The unfortunate result was quadriplegia. I battled with severe pain, medications, wounds, a year in hospitals, life-threatening emergencies and a need for physical, mental and spiritual support. It was hell.

My name is Peter Sauer. I was a professional photographer, instructor, speaker and print judge for 35 years. After creating 24 photography courses for adult education, I found a new passion in writing. My career was like heaven, living out my ultimate dream.

I’ve had a long time to think about my life as a photographer and what I have learned. I experienced God’s grace, love, health, hope, mystery and faith. I also suffered loss, pain, defeat, addiction, and tragedy. While I can no longer capture photographic images as I once did, it is my goal to produce one final portrait in words, an autobiography. With the time remaining to me, I’d like to share it, and to inspire the reader.


Since 2013, I have been living at Capital Care Norwood, a long-term care centre. Thankfully, with the great care that I have received, my health has started to stabilize making this goal possible. Of course, writing a book is still a monumental task for anyone, let alone a quadriplegic. To accomplish this task, your donation will be used to hire an assistant to help teach me the use of voice recognition/dictation software. I will then begin to write a draft of a chapter. My assistant and I will edit and format the draft until it is complete, before starting on the next chapter. We’ll repeat the process until the book is complete, providing updates after each chapter. We will also design the final book cover and dust jacket. The donations will also be used to print a number of books, based on book sales. This is called “on-demand” printing.
I began this campaign hoping that with your help, my life experiences can have a purpose. As a photographer, I lived most of my life believing that I was bulletproof. I was wrong. The value and beauty of this project is sharing my life story and the importance of faith.

I thank you, reader, for reading this far. I ask, if you consider the cause to be worthy or interesting, that you will donate to this campaign; and even if you cannot, to share it with others. Every little bit counts.

It’s hard to express how grateful I am to have the opportunity to even consider accomplishing such a task. It is very important to me, but I can only write this book with your generosity.

God bless.