Jamie
In January 1999 Jamie Fisher and I, friends and fellow mountaineers, were trapped on the storm bound icy summit of a French mountain for 5 days. Our rescue, one of the most dramatic in the history of the Alps, came only hours too late to save Jamie. I was precariously winched by helicopter to safety. Despite suffering hypothermia and appalling frostbite, I survived. Days later all four of my hands and feet were amputated.
Olivia
I was a partner in a large law firm when, in February 2002, I began to feel unwell at work with fluish symptoms. Within 24 hours I was unconscious in intensive care. I had contracted the blood poisoning form of meningitis. Gangrene spread rapidly up my limbs and as a result it was necessary to amputate my arms and legs below my elbows and knees. Without expert surgery it would have been far worse.