Paul Pritchard (1) (1967–)

This isn't so much a book about climbing as about what happens when the author is struck on the head by a falling rock. And not wearing a helmet, and left for dead halfway up a 200 foot rock spire off the coast of Tasmania. Pritchard does a wonderful job of presenting himself as a not entirely likeable or unlikeable character, but rather just an 'average Joe' who has the ground cut out from under his feet by a stray rock, and a stupid decision not to wear a helmet. Where the book shines is the sympathetically written account of the people who treated him and brought him back to life. Anyone on the medical side who wants some insight into the thinking of trauma patients might find this book enlightening. Anyone on the climbing side who needs a reality check would be very well advised to read this. And it stands alone, as a story dedicated to those who don't climb mountains, but do heroic things none the less.… (altro)