E101: David Young - Don't Let Anything Hold You Back

Today I was joined by my good friend David Young. David grew up in Scotland. Born with a congenital deformity, he had his left leg amputated above the knee when he was seventeen. He wrote television drama for the BBC and Channel 4 for nine years before writing and selling his first novel, Lockdown, at auction in London for £350,000, a then record amount for a debut novelist from Scotland. In 2018 his tenth thriller, Second Chance, won the prestigious International Thriller Writers' award. He took up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2017, became the first amputee in Ireland to be awarded a blue belt in 2019, and this year, after losing his previous twenty-six matches, became a European Champion in Paris. He's the first and so far only amputee to win a major IBJJF tournament competing against able-bodied athletes.