Item: In One Lifetime
Author: Gina

In One Lifetime by Graham Forlonge | $15 Giveaway and Exclusive Excerpt

A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.

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Book Details

In One Lifetime by Graham Forlonge
Published by Tellwell Talent on 01/27/2020
Genres: Non-fiction, Autobiography
Format: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Pages: 543

This book is an autobiography of a man who had over 50 mostly major PTSD events in his life.

It recounts the trials, struggles, and lessons learned over a life span of 67 years. It recalls his childhood, time as a lifesaver, police diver, police driving instructor, member of SWOS, professional NRL footballer, running Police Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC), Security Manager of the world-renowned Porgera Gold Mine in PNG, and world record holder of going around Australia in under 10 days on a motorcycle.

The events accounted whilst a police diver as well as a Highway Patrol Officer includes plane crashes, train accidents, body recoveries, and numerous fatal road accidents, some of which are major historic events in Australian history. It also includes native raids, murders, abuse, and many more traumatic events while working in PNG.

Some of the accounts are captivating and others are highly emotional. His life and determination to succeed were mostly driven as a result of having been sexually abused over many years at the hand of his tutor as a child.

It is a true Australian story and displays considerable endurance and survival skills.

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Exclusive Excerpt from In One Lifetime

In the three boring months at Regent Street, the only other exciting incident was when I was driving around on patrol in a paddy wagon with the sergeant. A description of a person wanted for car theft and robbery was broadcast over the police radio. We were patrolling near a city park when I noticed a person fitting the description of our car thief. I drew the sergeant’s attention to him, but the fellow saw our vehicle and took off through the park. I jumped out of the paddy wagon without further ado and chased him for about 100m across the park, eventually tackling him from behind. My footy training had paid off!

By the time the sergeant had driven around the block, I had our villain trussed up in handcuffs ready to be loaded into the paddy wagon. I received loads of verbal accolades for that one. A detective told me that I showed a lot of initiative and wanted me to apply for a junior detective’s position. But even though it would have been more exciting than what I was doing, I turned it down, as I knew it would have interfered with my football. It was a tough decision, as I remember thinking: I want this sort of action to happen every day.

However, the next bit of action I was a part of was not good at all; actually very sad. Just after my graduation into the police force, we were called to an accident that occurred near the Central Railway station where a worker had been jammed between two carriages in the process of hooking them up together. He managed to get caught between the two metal stoppers, which crushed his body flat just below his heart.

He was still alive, although barely, and asked to see his wife and a man of the cloth. This request was expedited due to his condition. His wife happened to be nearby, so was on the scene very quickly as well. The worker got to speak to both of them before the decision was made to unhook the carriages. The ambulance emergency personnel were waiting, ready to lower him onto a stretcher and continue with their care of him, but as soon as the carriages were separated his body became limp. He was dead before he hit the stretcher.

This was my introduction into the police force and a taste of what trauma lie ahead for me.

I felt I needed to move on. My wish was granted the very next day.

The sergeant came into the station to perform the daily attendance check and on its completion, started to ask, “Who would like to go to–”

I cut him off, “Yes, Sergeant, I would!”

“Son, you don’t even know where or what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t care!” By this time, I had really had it with this place.

“Good, you start at Glebe tomorrow morning!”

It was the best news I ever had!

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Purchase Links for In One Lifetime

Amazon – OneLink for every country

Bookshop/IndieBound Kobo Chapters/Indigo

AppleBooks/iTunes The Book Depository Blackwells’s

Waterstones The Wordery B&N

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About Graham Forlonge

Graham Forlonge is a father, footballer, policeman, diver, security officer, and the author of IN ONE LIFETIME.

In the 5-Star Review from IndieReader C.S. Holmes writes, "In the memoir In One Lifetime by Graham Forlonge, the author experiences murder, plane crashes, mine explosions, and more...on his way to healing from PTSD...Graham Forlonge’s memoir In One Lifetime is an expansively honest and brutally detailed submersion into aspects of trauma that left the author with a lifelong case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is most touching when detailing his healing process."

It took 10+ years to write his memoir. Now, Graham works as a part-time Counsellor for the underprivileged.

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