Man Down

By his own admission, Mark Ormrod was a 'gravel belly', a 'bootneck' marine who loved nothing more than being in the heart of the action when things kicked off. It's what he was trained to do, all he'd ever wanted, and he relished the prospect of a tour of duty in Afghanistan. And then the unthinkable happened. In one heartstopping moment Mark's life was brutally shattered when a land mine tore off both his legs and his right arm. The catastrophic injuries he sustained, the race to airlift him out of danger and the shocking truth behind the doctors' battle to save him are all described in graphic detail in this remarkable memoir. This is also the story of how, on the brink of despair, Mark began the greatest battle of his life - to walk again and, using state-of-the-art 'bionic' legs, to stand shoulder to shoulder with his comrades to receive his campaign medal. It was a battle he had to win if he was to rebuild his life as a serving marine. Told with brutal honesty, "Man Down" is a searing, action-packed account of courage and comradeship, of life on the front line in the Afghan desert and the terrible legacy of war. It is a story of true grit you will never forget.