Читать книгу The Firefighter Blues - Alan Bruce - Страница 1

Here is my life condensed to 90000 words. I'm thrilled that I can now share these words with you.

I've attempted to be a storyteller while remaining as factually accurate as my memory would allow. When it failed me, family, friends and work mates came to my aid.

In relation to my time spent as a Firefighter, I would have preferred to write an unexpurgated account of events, but the fear of a lawsuit tends to restrict one's capacity for the 'whole truth'. I found it impossible to include every incident, acquaintance, twist and turn. I could have added another 100 pages - maybe next time.

While writing my autobiography, I was very mindful not to overdose, you the reader, with pages and pages of tortured prose. The Firefighter Blues is a book full of adventure, humour, fear, elation and sadness, with an unavoidable hint of bitterness and frustration.

Regarding certain delicate issues, I've sought consent where possible, otherwise, names, dates or locations have been changed for privacy reasons.

I've done my best to describe my feelings during the more traumatic incidents rather than focus on the gruesome details, but there are instances where I couldn't separate the two, so you may find certain events disturbing. My intention was never to sensationalise any particular incident, but rather, provide some insight into how and why I came to suffer the debilitating effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). My story is constantly interrupted by random calls to fires, car accidents, rescues and other unsavoury incidents, hopefully giving you, the reader, a taste of what it’s like to be me.

I've always been a ruminator, a ponderer of the past, which is a wonderful attribute to have when writing an autobiography. Sadly, it is also a curse. Warm and fuzzy recollections share equal billing with the more horrific memories that cling to my brain like barnacles on a rusty hull. Perhaps its a trait that all PTSD sufferers share.

Writing The Firefighter Blues has opened some old wounds and healed others. The experience has been cathartic, painful, hilarious and heartbreaking - I wish I could do it all again.