The gripping tale of one man’s survival in the wilderness.

On the night of April 9, 1997, Warren Macdonald took his final step as a "complete" human being. A fit and experienced hiker, Macdonald had set out with a new Dutch companion to make the grueling climb to the top of Australia’s spectacular Mount Bowen. They lost their way after a full day on the trail and pitched camp beside a narrow creek. Shortly after dusk, as he scrambled up an embankment away from the creek in the darkness, Macdonald was horrified to hear a loud crack. A second later he was lying in the creek bed, both his legs pinned by a giant boulder.

What had begun as a two-day adventure had suddenly turned into a nightmare. Try as they might, the two men could not budge the massive piece of granite. There was nothing for it: Macdonald’s companion would have to hike out at dawn and make a solitary, perilous descent—a journey of at least eight hours—to get help.

A gifted storyteller, Macdonald captures the terror and high drama of his hours alone in the wilderness, but he also writes eloquently about his life both before and after the accident.

Warren Macdonald is an Australian environmentalist, explorer, mountain climber, internationally renowned motivational speaker, and writer. In 2003, he became the first double above-knee amputee to reach the summit of Africa’s tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. Later that same year, in a spectacular effort requiring more than 2,800 pull-ups over four days, he climbed America's tallest cliff face, El Capitan. Warren is also the only above-knee amputee to make an ascent of Canada’s landmark frozen waterfall, the 600-foot-tall Weeping Wall in Alberta. He is the author of the bestselling book, A Test of Will. Warren lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his partner, Margo Talbot.

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