JASON LEWIS risked his life completing an incredible round-the-world adventure, surviving shark and crocodile attacks, pirate raids and false imprisonment.
Yet, following his safe return home after a brutal 13-year expedition, little did he know his most traumatic challenge was yet to come.
Broke, homeless and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Jason only got his life back on track after a chance reunion with an old friend who encouraged him to write about his experiences.
Their relationship blossomed and, now happily married and with so much to look forward to, the pair are coming to Scotland to launch a children’s book.
“I probably wouldn’t be here without Tammie,” said Yorkshire-born Jason, 49.
“She came into my life just at the right time and showed me there was light at the end of the tunnel.”
Jason returned to a hero’s welcome after becoming the first man to circumnavigate the world using only human power – no cars, no planes. But, a decade after setting off from the same spot in London, everything had changed.
“The skyline was different, the atmosphere was different,” he recalled. “I felt like a stranger in my own country.”
After the initial media hubbub blew over, Jason felt divorced. So he was blown away when a publisher offered him a six-figure advance for a book about his adventure.
“I thought, ‘this is brilliant’,” he said. “But that was when things started to go wrong. They wanted me to work with a ghost writer. It became apparent this wasn’t going to make for a very honest account.”
There was no option for Jason but to turn down the deal. The decision left him broke and homeless.
“I had no money, no job, no home,” Jason explained. “I was in a very dark place.”
And that’s when he received an email from the woman who turned everything around. He’d first met Tammie Stevens after being struck by a hit and run driver in Colorado during his round-the-world trek.
With both legs broken, he was forced to stay put for nine months.
Jason filled the time doing talks at schools and Tammie, an actress, was at the same school taking a theatre workshop.
“I remember thinking, ‘I pity the woman who marries that guy,” said Tammie, 53. “Little did I know that, eight years later, I’d be that woman!”
Tammie eventually sent Jason an email to get back in touch and, on hearing of his plight, was so moved she decided to look into setting up a company – BillyFish Books – to publish what turned out to be a trilogy of books about his adventure.
She took a leap of faith, quitting her home in a bid to save some cash for the project and joined Jason living in his car.
They stayed in a tent in the warmer weather and pet-sat through the cold winters.
“We had absolutely nothing in common other than the dream of telling Jason’s story,” said Tammie.
Yet romance blossomed and the couple – who now live in a tiny mountain community called Beulah in Colorado – married last year, while BillyFish Books has gone from strength to strength.
Jason’s writing success is all the more remarkable given that he has battled dyslexia since childhood.
“One moment can change the rest of your life,” he added.
“If I hadn’t been run over, if I had taken the book deal, if Tammie hadn’t sent that email… we would probably never be together.
“But life is a journey and, no matter how long it takes, you will get to the end.”
Jason Lewis will speak at the Boswell Book Festival on May 13. For more information, visit boswellbookfestival.co.uk. Copies of Jason’s books can be bought at billyfishbooks.com.
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