The Wish Dogtor

In the first of his books, Sean Peter describes a fictionalised account of his life as a young Irish boy in 1960s Swaziland, growing up with the daily exuberance that only the young can find "running wild" in the countryside with friends. Sean suddenly finds his freedom caged, as he is sent to a Draconian boarding school in South Africa, and discovers the dichotomy of apartheid.
Coming of age, Sean's journey finds him at a forward-thinking, liberal university before being thrown into an ultra-conservative veterinary school to finish the necessary training to help animals. While he is deeply satisfied with his work in the townships and the daily experiences with his patients, he is disturbed by the treatment he sees committed at the hands of government officials. Torn between his dream to help animals and the need to do what's right, life-changing choices lead to his conviction as an "uninspired" terrorist.

This is not an autobiography but rather a fictionalised narrative of someone trying to live a normal life but failing dramatically due to their own poor decisions.