Living Years

Directed by Brenda Gillis

Gale Williams had a happy, normal childhood in Santa Monica California. Then, in 1956, on the eve of his 18th birthday he crashed his car in a remote area of California and became a quadriplegic. In those days people with such severe injuries were only expected to live 10-15 years. To survive, mentally and physically, Gale set his mind to tackling small goals, focusing only on what he was able to do, and through a supportive family and church community, he rebuilt his life. He studied computer programming at UCLA in the 1960's, worked for an air defense company, married and adopted two children.