Bill’s Story: A Novel Recovery

Story By Janelle Breese-Biagioni

William (Bill) Cawker is a father and grandfather with a newly developed passion for writing. Bill is also a brain injury survivor. He is a twin and was born prematurely and needed to have open heart surgery at 5 weeks of age. He has spent most of his life dealing with health issues.

Although Bill endured many challenges, he completed Grade 12 and a course for residential-care aid. As Bill’s health declined, he was no longer able to continue with this line of work. Not to be defeated, he went on to work in picture framing shops and eventually owned and operated his own framing business. In 2005, Bill had a cerebral cyst removed. The following year he needed a permanent shunt placed in the brain for drainage. In 2010, he experienced significant hearing loss and was no longer able to work. This left Bill to find a ‘new life’ for himself.

Bill has been residing at Mary Cridge Manor and participating in the brain injury rehabilitation program for the last two years. During this time, a character with the name Tony Marconi popped into Bill’s head one day. He decided to explore who the character was and what kind of story he could create. With the encouragement of Greg Goldberg, who is also an author and contracts as a mentor in the program, Bill developed Tony Marconi’s character and story line. He has now completed and self-published a 166 page novel titled Caught in the Crosshairs.

“I wanted the character and the book to be positive,” explains Bill. “So although the character was in the Mafia, he does change. He attends a funeral and this makes him reflect on his life and the crimes he committed. During his reflection he has an encounter with God, so to speak, and turns his life around.”

On February 26, 2014, Bill will celebrate this accomplishment with a book launch and signing. He is already working on the sequel and has plans for many more books, including a series of children’s books for his granddaughter.