Angel With Crooked Feet

Angel with Crooked Feet

by Anthony Sarjant

Angel with Crooked Feet chronicles the life of Tony Sarjant, born with a club foot to a mother who didn't want him. He spent the first ten years of his life in and out of hospitals before his pre-teen life of petty crime landed him in a detention center for boys where he was sexually assaulted for years.

As a teenager he discovered the dark world of the occult, a world he fully embraced as a young man. His first marriage seemed to be the start of a new, happier life, but after the births of his daughter and son he learned his wife was having an affair and that she was still married to another man!

After his marriage ended, Tony's life dissolved into years of drifting back and forth across Europe, punctuated by heavy drinking and several attempts at suicide, including the one that almost succeeded.

Then, in his late 30s, he met the woman who would change his life, Denise, now his wife of more than 20 years. Through Denise, Tony's life was saved by the power of real love, the power of God. And through more trials, including a prison term and a crash that left him helpless, he found his purpose in life. "I know we can make a difference in the lives of hurting children," Tony says, "no matter how old they are."

Angel with Crooked Feet is the inspiring story that demonstrates the truth of that promise.

It's a story that proves, again and again, that God never gives up on us, even when we want to give up on ourselves. It is the story I'm telling because I know that reading about my experiences, my ordeals, my challenges, and my victories will help thousands of people, young and old, overcome the challenges in their lives.

The new Director of Residential Services at Quakerdale’s Manning campus, Tony Sarjant, has worked with struggling young people for decades. One of this challenges he’s always faced (and successfully met) is persuading kids that he understands what they’re going through. Now, the children he serves are presenting Sarjant with something new. They understand what he’s been through.

“Angel With Crooked Feet,” Sarjant’s memoir, has been circulating among the children at the Manning campus and it’s proving to be an inspiring read. “The kids tell me, ‘Knowing what you’ve gone through shows us we can make it too,’ Sarjant says. “It’s overwhelming.”

Sarjant assumed the Residential Service Director’s position in Manning in June of this year, after directing and creating programs for troubled children in Montana, Arizonaand his native England. He draws on the life lessons he learned (the hard way) as an unwanted, polio-stricken child who turned to petty crime and spent several years in a reform school and juvenile detention facilities before he was 18. As a young adult he turned to substance abuse and the occult before beginning to turn his life around in his late 30’s. Sarjant credits his wife Denise and discovery of his faith with showing him he had the resources to live a worthwhile and productive life. Of his story and his work Sarjant says, “I know we can make a difference in the lives of hurting children, no matter how old they are.”

Sarjant presented Iowa First Lady Mari Culver with a copy of “Angel With Crooked Feet” during Mrs. Culver’s visit to Quakerdale this past Summer as part of her Encourage Summer Reading tour around the state.

In addition to his work at Quakerdale Sarjant consults with the Manning Family Recovery Centerand has given talks in jails and prisons, most recently at a Des Moines Youth Detention Center.

Quakerdale has been serving families and children for more than 157 years. Quakerdale’s mission statement is “We help children and families overcome challenges and live better lives through preventive and therapeutic services, life learning and Christian ministry. Quakerdale campuses are in Manning, Marshalltown, New Providence, Newtonand Waterloo.

Angel with Crooked Feet.