"True heroism from battlefield to podium."
The word ‘hero’ is one of those words that has found its meaning diluted by overuse, and in the case of Jaco van Gass is simply insufficient. Nevertheless that’s what he is, unequivocally, and in the original sense of the word. The title of his book is a reference to ‘unequivocal saves’ which was a term used at the military hospital where he was treated for life-changing injuries in 2009. The ‘unequivocals’ were those who the hospital had undoubtedly brought back from the brink and their names were listed on the wall alongside another board that recorded the less fortunate. With his left arm gone following a firefight in Afghanistan, and with injuries that would be enough to retire most of us, van Gass steps up to become a first class mountaineer and world record holding Paralympic cyclist, not to mention being a team member of the Walking with the Wounded expedition that reached the North Pole in 2011. I remember that expedition as a turning point in shifting public opinion and breaking down perceptions of people with disabilities and what they are capable of. No longer were injured vets people we should feel sorry for and turn our gaze from - they were people we should look up to. The Invictus Games that followed was a celebration and a focus of inspiration for the world. There is no avoiding, however, the absolute horror at the beginning of this story, which pulls no punches in describing the events that unfolded in this young man’s life. Jaco van Gass went on to achieve incredible things, but ultimately there can be no greater act of bravery than entering a battlefield.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
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