Scotty Roberts

A true story of losing a leg and a marriage, fighting for every breath, and choosing to rise anyway.

Cover of The First Twelve Days: A Memoir of Breath, Bone, and Heart by Scotty Roberts

Twelve days.
One life, rebuilt.

Breath. Fighting for every one of them.

Bone. A leg lost after a long illness.

Heart. A marriage slipping away, and the love that remains.

Inside the book

The collapse

The aftermath of a sudden medical crisis, and the way one emergency sets off a chain of others.

The leg

The physical and emotional reality of losing a limb, written from inside the hospital bed.

The marriage

A long marriage coming apart, and the love that is still there when it does.

The time-prompts

Mystical time-prompts, inner reckonings and the small moments of grace that arrive uninvited.

The fight

A man fighting for more than survival. He is fighting for meaning.

When life collapsed without warning, Scotty Roberts found himself fighting for every breath. A long illness ended in the amputation of his leg. His mobility went with it, his marriage began to slip away, and he woke up in a body and a world he barely recognized.

For anyone walking through heartbreak, illness, reinvention, recovery, or the quiet wilderness of starting over.

About the book

Readers on Amazon

4.810 ratings

I was blown away by Scotty's story, riding out its perfect storm in one sitting, and struggling to believe what I was hearing.

Steve HVerified purchase, paperback

It was so inspirational that I finished it in one day.

pkbjsmileVerified purchase, paperback

Ultimately Roberts' struggle is uplifting... not just survive but thrive. Recommended reading.

aliensporebombVerified purchase, paperback

This book should be in every surgeon's waiting room.

Jane C ScottVerified purchase, hardcover

The ultimate battle from serious health issues to a Phoenix rising from the ashes... Truly inspirational!

Leslie J. HolkerVerified purchase, hardcover

One of the most honest, gut-wrenching, and ultimately uplifting memoirs I've ever read.

rafael martinezhardcover
Scotty Roberts standing at home on his prosthetic leg

Scotty Roberts

Scotty Roberts is an author, illustrator and creative director from the Minneapolis and Saint Paul advertising world. The First Twelve Days is his memoir of the illness, amputation and divorce that arrived all at once, and of what he chose to build afterward.

Meet the author

You are not finished. You are not alone. You can rebuild.

Books like The First Twelve Days

If one of these stayed with you, this one will too.

  • When Breath Becomes Air

    Paul Kalanithi

    A life rearranged by illness, told by someone who still had things to say.

  • The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

    Jean-Dominique Bauby

    A body that stops cooperating, and a mind that refuses to go quiet.

  • Between Two Kingdoms

    Suleika Jaouad

    What comes after survival, when you have to learn how to live again.

  • Man's Search for Meaning

    Viktor E. Frankl

    The old question underneath all of it: what do you do with suffering?

Start the first day

138 pages. Short enough to read in a sitting, honest enough to stay with you.

Read a free sample

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