TORONTO - Patrick O'Sullivan has a strong aversion to baked beans. The smell of freshly-cut grass can send him into an emotional tailspin.
And even when he played in the National Hockey League, and the days of being beaten by his dad were behind him, he still instinctively scanned the crowd for his face in the arena every night.
The 30-year-old O'Sullivan seemed destined for hockey greatness, but it all went horribly wrong at the hands of his father.
In "Breaking Away: A Harrowing True Story of Resilience, Courage and Triumph," O'Sullivan writes in unflinching detail about a childhood of physical abuse and emotional cruelty.