As they sat by the hospital bed of their severely injured daughter, Josie King’s parents believed that the worst thing that could possibly happen to them had happened: accidentally scalded by a defective hot water heater, the eighteen-month-old had burns covering 60% of her body. The doctors at Johns Hopkins, however, were confident that Josie would recover, and the Kings had every reason for hope since they were in a top-notch hospital with a competent and devoted medical staff. But in a totally unforeseen and heartbreaking turn of events, Josie died after a breakdown in communication led to a fatal medical error.

Understandably enraged by the hospital’s error, Josie’s mother thought she would never be able to forgive Johns Hopkins or be able to recover from her daughter’s death, but after learning the astonishing number of people who die each year from medical errors, Sorrel King realized that she could use Josie’s story to educate health care providers and improve patient safety. Partnering with Johns Hopkins and other patient-safety advocates, Sorrel King not only created a foundation to decrease medical errors, she also began to share the story of her beloved daughter’s life and death: Josie’s Story is that important and heart-wrenching story.