Goodreads asked Peter Tonkin:

What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

Peter Tonkin How I survived a near-fatal accident as a child. Glass door slammed in my face at school. My hand went through it & my arm was badly cut. Main artery severed. Nasty. I was lucky 1) To survive 2) to keep the arm (which was packed in ice after the operation - while I was still attached to it of course! 3) I was very lucky to keep my hand and fingers (which were all black by the time I made it to hospital. BUT the doctors just tied off the damaged artery and waited for the other blood vessels to pick up the flow. Took 6 weeks but worked OK. CONSEQUENTLY, however, I have a pulse in my elbow but NOT in my wrist. I sometimes wonder whether I should be worried about this...

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