Almost two years ago Frank Gardner and his cameraman Simon Cumbers were shot in Saudi Arabia. Simon was killed by a single bullet but Frank, despite being shot six times, survived. His book Blood & Sand: Love, Death and Survival in an Age of Global Terror, is out now (Click to buy from Amazon UK
) With this opportunity Frank spoke to Jackie McGlone of the Scotsman newspaper in a very inspiring interview.
Below are some extracts (click to read the whole article)
".... WITH a smile on his lean, intelligent face, Frank Gardner is reminiscing about a skiing holiday in Klosters, from which he recently returned with his wife Amanda and their two young daughters. "I can't tell you how much it meant to me to zig-zag down a mountain with my daughters either side of me and my wife snowboarding," says the BBC's security correspondent. "The Gardners hit the slopes!"
The fact that the 44-year-old was not actually on skis, but sitting in something resembling a bucket on a mono-ski while powering himself through the snow, thanks to sheer willpower and the muscular strength of his upper torso, barely rates a mention....."
"....Now partly paralysed and based in a wheelchair - after meeting this man whose courage is as humbling as it is inspirational, I would never describe him as either confined or bound to his state-of-the-art chair - Gardner is determined to make the most of every precious moment of the rest of his life, with the love and support of his family.
"I will get through this," he writes in Blood & Sand, the remarkable tale of his battle for survival and the triumph of the human spirit against terrible odds. But what makes Gardner's moving, often humorous, deeply personal story so mportant is the fact that he has woven into it a brilliantly dispassionate, clear-eyed account of the Islamic world which offers unique insights into al-Qaeda. .."
"...When Frank Gardner was a runner, he used to look down at his feet and the ground flashing away beneath them. "Although I'm not religious, I remember thinking, 'This is a gift from God, treasure it. You never know when it might be taken away from you.' Two years ago it was taken away from me. But life doesn't stop - it goes on. I've got my life back and my family keeps me smiling." ..."
• Blood & Sand: Love, Death and Survival in an Age of Global Terror, by Frank Gardner, is published by Bantam Press. Click to buy from Amazon UK
Click to read the whole article
