British poet William Ernest Henley famously wrote: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” These iconic lines come from his classic 1875 poem Invictus. As an amputee, Henley drew on personal experience, infusing the poem with themes of resilience and inner strength in the face of adversity – a reflection of the grim reality faced by many amputees of the time, who often succumbed to gangrene and death.