Shattered: A Champion's Fight Against a Mystery Illness

Shattered: A Champion's Fight Against a Mystery Illness is an autobiographical book by former professional squash player Peter Marshall detailing his battle with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Publisher's synopsis
(This synopsis was provided by the publisher for promotional purposes. For book reviews, please see Links section below.)

The road has been long and hard, but you have reached the peak of fitness and are within touching distance of being acclaimed as world No 1 in your sport. Suddenly a mystery illness strikes and that world comes crashing down.

That was the fate that befell Peter Marshall, a champion squash player from Nottinghamshire who, aged 23, was ranked second only to Khan, possibly the greatest-ever exponent of the sport.

Marshall had taken several drubbings from the master in their regular meetings on the tiring world squash circuit, but with each one he had learned a little more and reached the point of physical and mental fitness where he felt the ultimate prize was only a few matches away. Then Marshall was hit by a debilitating physical and mental tiredness. It was later diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome, an illness he had hardly heard of, but it left him barely able to walk upstairs, never mind compete with the best in the world over five games of squash. This is the inspiring story of Marshall’s four years in a bewildering wilderness and how he eventually found his way out of it.

Those years of struggle should have seen him at the peak of his career, and the physical pain was nothing compared with the mental anguish. A succession of doctors and health experts could not point to a definite cure. Marshall would rest for months, but then feel no better. Eventually he faced an agonising decision: accept his squash career was over and collect £250,000 compensation from his insurers on condition he did not raise a racket in earnest again, or risk an uncertain comeback.

Marshall chose the latter and in learning to live with his illness he discovered how to pace himself in life as well as in sport. Playing his unique double-handed style, he fought back to become British national champion and is again competing with the best in the world. Although he accepts he cannot recapture that early zeal, he feels he is a more rounded person for it. You don’t have to be a top sportsman or a squash fan to appreciate Marshall’s story. It stands as an example of hope and determination to similar sufferers in any walk of life.

Links

 * Shattered: A Champion's Fight Against a Mystery Illness - Amazon (UK)
 * Shattered: A Champion's Fight Against a Mystery Illness - Amazon (US)
 * Shattered: A Champion's Fight Against a Mystery Illness - Goodreads