DUNFERMLINE veteran JJ Chalmers came close to losing both his hands during his service for the armed forces and he has now backed an inspiring book led by hand surgeons.

'Hands Re:Worked' will feature extraordinary tales of courage and life-changing episodes where people have had their lives reclaimed by the skills of hand surgeons.

JJ, who survived a bomb blast while on duty in Afghanistan, said: "I came very close to losing both my hands and thanks to the incredible work of my surgery team I have just about kept both of them.

"However, I have a level of function that, quite frankly, even before my injury I would have taken for granted.

"I suppose that's the thing that we all too often take for granted: just how important our hands are and just how we depend on them every single day to live, let alone to do the things that we love.

"And it's not lost on me that it was the incredible work of the hands of my hand surgeon that led me to be able to rediscover my passions that I had before, whether this was as a sports person, a woodworker and now as a father.

"When I see my kids learning to use their hands for the first time, it reminds me of everything that I have had to relearn and, most importantly, the incredible people that gave me that opportunity by saving my hands and for continuing to look after them."

The Press reported in February that JJ, an Invictus Games gold-medallist, had surgery to remove shrapnel nine years after that life-changing explosion in Afghanistan in 2011.

His career as a Royal Marine Commando was cut short as he underwent dozens of surgeries following the incident; he lost two of his fingers, sustained holes in his legs, suffered scars on his face and chest, and at one point even had one arm grafted temporarily to his body.

Despite the odds, the 34-year-old went through rehabilitation, competed and won gold in the 2014 Invictus Games and has become a popular TV presenter, starring on Strictly Come Dancing last year.

Hand Re:Worked aims to be an uplifting and inspirational reminder of the success stories of specialist surgeons and the patients whose lives they transform and features a variety of life-affirming patients' stories, from para-triathletes to stonemasons, Archbishops to survivors of terrorist attacks.

The project will be financed by crowdfunding, and any additional money raised will be used to support the charitable work of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH).

The crowdfunder for Hands Re:Worked launched today (Thursday, 1pm) and books will be available to purchase for £30 from: https://crowdfunder.co.uk/handsreworked