Never Will I Die

There's no pain, no theatrical agony. No screaming, no shouting. The kill shot is catastrophic and conclusive. I slump silently on to my knees and topple forward, head first, into the dirt. The lads have seen enough death to assume mine is instantaneous. The lights are out. That's him gone. Toby Gutteridge was only 24 when he was shot through the neck while operating behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. He survived despite not breathing for at least 20 minutes. Back in the UK, doctors recommended that his life support machine be switched off, but with the defiant spirit that would define his recovery, Toby pulled through. Now quadriplegic, capable of movement only with his head, Toby has rebuilt his life. His is an extraordinary story of survival against overwhelming odds, and of the power of the human spirit to overcome extreme adversity. Brutally honest and authentic, he builds a compelling picture of the type of person produced by the Special Forces system, and tells of how one split second changed the course of his life forever. Powerful and inspiring, Never Will I Die is a universal story about our search for purpose, and explores what extreme experience teaches us about what truly matters.

Toby Gutteridge left a difficult and destructive childhood to join the Royal Marines, before becoming one of the youngest-ever recruits to join the Special Boat Service.

In November 2009, he was shot through the neck during an operation in Afghanistan, and his life changed forever.

Today, Toby runs Bravery, an extreme sports brand that aims to support and empower those who have dug deep within themselves to overcome their own adversities by finding courage, strength and the resilience to bounce back stronger than ever.

Michael Calvin is an award-winning writer and Sunday Times bestselling author, whose books have been hailed for their insight and influence. He has collaborated with such celebrated sportsmen as Sir Alastair Cook, Dylan Hartley and Gareth Thomas, and is the only writer to win the British Sports Book of the Year award in successive years. Most recently, and in a wider context, he has collaborated on critically acclaimed autobiographies of Toby Gutteridge, a quadriplegic former Special Forces Soldier, and of Josef Lewkowicz, a Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter.