Through The Flames

Through The Flames: Piper Alpha - A Son's Story is a powerful memoir of childhood instability, devastating loss, and the long journey towards purpose after one of the worst offshore disasters in history.

Shane Gorman grew up learning resilience the hard way. Amid family upheaval and uncertainty, the steady presence in his life was his father, David: a gifted mechanic, rally driver, offshore worker, safety advocate, and mentor.

At eighteen, Shane left home to join the British Army. Days later, the Piper Alpha platform, where his father worked, exploded in the deadliest offshore oil and gas disaster in history.

What followed was not a simple story of grief and recovery. Shane's loss pushed him into years of trauma, anger, turmoil, military prison, and a painful search for identity. Yet this is also a story of rebuilding. Through friendship, music, travel, fatherhood, and a later offshore career in safety spanning the North Sea, Asia, Australia, and Africa, Shane began to transform grief into purpose.

In honouring his father's memory, he found a way to continue the work David believed in: protecting lives, speaking honestly about safety, and ensuring the lessons of Piper Alpha are never forgotten.

Through The Flames is a moving and unflinching memoir about fatherhood, loss, survival, and the strength it takes to build a meaningful life after tragedy.