My name is Linda Buchan, and when I was 18 years old I died. It was Saturday, June 27, 1998, when my young life ended and my new life began. A life that was to be so completely different to the one that I had envisaged, the one that I had expected....

In Linda Buchan's raw and powerful memoir, she shares her journey from the terrible night when the life and future she thought lay ahead of her was shattered. From that moment she began a new life, firstly fighting just to survive, then forging her way with incredible courage and determination to live a fulfilling and purposeful life on her own terms. She is living proof of her own mantra that it's not what happens to you - it is how you deal with it.

The prologue and author's note are narrated by the author, Linda Buchan. In 1998, Linda was a casualty of a devastating house fire that claimed the life of her sister Kim and changed her own life forever. Linda's injuries from the fire include brain injury from carbon monoxide poisoning and lack of oxygen to her brain, which affects her whole body and her speech.