The doctors made mistakes with Rusty, some very big mistakes. But it wasn't so much a shocking misdiagnosis as it was a misdiagnosis with shocking consequences. The diagnosis was that Rusty was Paranoid Schizophrenic. Because of that diagnosis, because of that label, Rusty was committed to a state mental hospital for over six years.

But the doctors were wrong…

What Rusty really had was Epilepsy and because they were unable to see that, she was locked up at the age of fifteen and prevented from living a reasonably normal life. Rusty used to wonder if she would make it through the day, seeing danger in everyday living. She was twenty when Carol Gino met her and learned of her past ordeals: the stigma of mental illness, the drugs that took away her self-control, the treatments that only worsened her symptoms. Carol and Rusty set out to prove that illness can be overcome and that there is no substitute for love and care.

Rusty's Story is a story of genuine courage and dignity. A story about what human beings could be at their best in spite of incredible pain and suffering.