The true story of an Olympic skier turned decorated RAF fighter pilot, who overcomes life-changing injuries to succeed at his passions, but discovers even heroes need help when his life is torn apart by his mother’s unexpected suicide.

SYNOPSIS:

Never give up… on your dreams... or on your life.

Like Maverick, Roger Cruickshank feels the need for speed as both an Olympic downhill
skier and a decorated RAF pilot. But like Rudy Ruettiger and Seabiscuit, he’s not a man for
whom anything comes easily. He just refuses to give up… ever.
He doesn’t give up when he is told he’ll barely walk, let alone ski after he shatters his leg and
is cut from the Olympic team ten months before the 2006 Games. Maybe he is inspired by
his parapalegic uncle, a former Red Devil… or his father’s absolute faith in him. Perhaps it’s
the commitment to purpose he’s learned from his beloved mother, an NHS nurse. With help
from his physio, his psychologist and a lot of metal in his leg, he relearns to walk… to ski…
to race and in the last possible competition, he regains his spot on the Olympic team by 0.07 of a second.

No sooner has he retired from skiing and begun RAF flight training, than Roger is hurled
from a rented bike headfirst into the ground. His face breaks in half, costing him his RAF
medical clearance. His jaw wired shut, Roger doesn’t give up. He requalifies and graduates
top of his class.
But then, he is wounded in a way no surgeon can fix. He loses his mother to suicide.
Roger can’t give up. He arranges the funeral. Marries his girlfriend. Breaks the speed of
sound. Writes a book and becomes an advocate for mental health.
He flies Operation Shader. Allied soldiers are pinned down in Iraq. On his rescue mission,
Roger is out of fuel and his plane suffers a systems failure. He has seconds. He does not
give up. He saves lives.
He’s buried his pain, but it hasn’t healed.
A year later, Prince William awards him the Distinguished Flying Cross. Three weeks after
the ceremony, under the strain of parenthood, work and advocacy, Roger breaks. Still, he
doesn’t give up on life. He realizes the message he’s been advocating about mental
wellness applies to him. This hero seeks the help he needs and finally is able to heal his
heart.