I’m Alive: Courage, Hope, and a Miracle

The personal account of a promising high school hockey player who survived brain surgery and months of rehabilitation, infections, and temporary paralysis

An aspiring hockey star at Minnesota's elite Hill-Murray School, 15-year-old Duke Pieper faced a brain surgery with a five percent survival rate. In I'm Alive: Courage, Hope, and a Miracle, Duke recounts his personal and courageous war against the brain lesion that threatened his life and his fearless battle to restore normalcy to his life. Battling through months of paralysis, multiple surgeries, massive nerve damage, and more, Duke had to relearn how to breathe, swallow, walk, talk, and live again. This inspiring young man shares how his strength and adaptation to his disabilities inspired him to build a platform to assist others who have succumbed to monumental loss. I'm Alive is a heartwarming, wonderful acclaim to a young man who never gave up, and who has become an iconic inspiration to all who know him.

Duke Pieper was a highly regarded defenseman at Minnesota’s Hill Murray School in 2008 when a lesion that caused bleeding in the brain suddenly ended his hockey career. Against overwhelming odds, Pieper survived and is now a student at Bowling Green State University and a Student Coach for the Falcons hockey team. He divides his time between Edina, Minnesota, and Bowling Green, Ohio. Jim Bruton is the author of several books, including and The Big House, Gopher Glory, A Tradition of Purple, and We Love Our Twins, and cowrote autobiographies Best Seat in the House with Mark Rosen, Every Day Is Game Day with Fran Tarkenton, and A Passion to Win with Lou Nanne. He lives in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Lou Nanne captained the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the United States Olympic hockey teams and had a remarkable tenure as player, coach, general manager, and president of the Minnesota North Stars. He lives in Edina, Minnesota.