On this episode of Our American Stories, when John O’Leary was nine years old, a house fire left him with burns over 100 percent of his body. Doctors said he wouldn’t survive. He did. They said he’d never walk again. He did.

When he returned home, his mother insisted he do one more thing no one thought possible: learn to play the piano. John had no fingers, but she believed he had more strength than anyone could see.

The bestselling author of On Fire shares how one act of motherly determination helped him face the world again and taught him that no obstacle is bigger than love, hope, and the will to try.

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