From Coma to Chiropractic: Dorrin Rosenfeld’s Bold Return After the Unthinkable
What happens when the course of a life is upended not by choice, but by a split-second collision?
In her compelling new memoir, The Day I Got Hit by the Tortilla Truck, author and chiropractor Dorrin B. Rosenfeld offers a clear-eyed, unsentimental account of the event that nearly ended her life — and the unexpected path it set her on.
The book recounts the aftermath of a bizarre but devastating accident in 1985. At the time, Rosenfeld was a recent Amherst College graduate stationed in Belize with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching high school science. Just four months into her assignment, she was struck by a local delivery truck. The impact left her with traumatic brain injuries, right-side paralysis, and weeks of lost memory. She was airlifted out of Belize and spent the next several months in intensive rehabilitation in Boston.
But The Day I Got Hit by the Tortilla Truck is not a conventional medical memoir. It doesn’t dwell on hospital jargon or rest on tropes of victimhood. Instead, Rosenfeld focuses on what came next: the layered reality of recovery, the frustration of being underestimated, and the quiet force of will it took to begin again.
Throughout her time in recovery, she fought not just to regain physical mobility, but to restore her intellectual independence. She enrolled in college-level neurology courses while still in rehab and challenged the institutional mindset that assumed patients in her condition could not return to normal life. Her departure from The Greenery, a long-term care facility in Boston, was unprecedented. She made it happen.
Even more remarkable is the unexpected pivot her life took as a result. While still in Belize, Rosenfeld encountered chiropractic care for the first time — a field that would later define her career. The experience inspired her to shift from pursuing conventional medicine to exploring how the body could heal itself when given the right tools and attention. Eventually, she would go on to earn her Doctor of Chiropractic degree and dedicate her professional life to helping others regain their health after injury.
Rosenfeld’s book doesn’t sanitize the hardships. She openly discusses the psychological isolation of brain trauma, the loss of control, and the subtle ways people with invisible disabilities are dismissed or misjudged. But there’s also wry humor, moments of deep clarity, and a quiet reverence for second chances. At its core, this is a story about agency — not just surviving something catastrophic, but choosing to define its aftermath on your own terms.
The title, eye-catching as it is, isn’t a gimmick. It’s a real reminder that life’s most pivotal moments often arrive without warning. And in Rosenfeld’s case, that moment forced her to reimagine who she was — not as a patient, but as a person with a mission.
About the Author
Dorrin B. Rosenfeld is a chiropractor, writer, and former Peace Corps volunteer. After surviving a life-altering traumatic brain injury in her twenties, she defied the odds by relearning how to walk, speak, and rebuild her life from the ground up. She earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree and now draws on personal experience to support others in their healing journeys. The Day I Got Hit by the Tortilla Truck is her debut memoir.
Availability
The Day I Got Hit by the Tortilla Truck: My Healing Journey is now available on the official website, Amazon, and other online platforms in multiple formats; paperback, hardcover, e-Book. Follow the listed channels below to stay up to date with any exciting news and events regarding Rosenfeld and her literary journey:
