Footprint
With .... Jim Vickers-Willis

From the Iron Lung

Launching December 30th, 2009 ................... "Bouncing Back with CHANGES" by Psychologist, Tony Vickers-Willis ............ Provides practical clues to help bounce back from life's inevitable tragedies ..........................

In this FOOTPRINT section are glimpses into aspects of the inspiring life story of Jim Vickers-Willis - from his account of World War 2 service as a Spitfire pilot in Jim's War Diaries, to the People Magazine article about his Thrust to Stardom as one of Australia's premier entertainers, to his intimate published story of life From The Iron Lung after he was crippled by polio and put onto life support, to go on to achieve an unexpected life harvest and find The Magic of Life!.

And in living that amazing life, Jim laid a footprint that will help others to successfully face their own life challenges. This footprint is revealed in a new book written by Tony Vickers-Willis, a Psychologist, and who, as Jim's son, has been a first hand witness to much of Jim's life.

With depression, anxiety and despair on the march, and our society appearing clueless on how to solve our human problems, Bouncing Back to Changes provides some answers. Many people struggle to cope with their life challenges, often feeling unhappy, tired, bitter, hard done by, and sometimes depressed, and desperate to get out of this cycle of unhappiness. So how did Jim make it through? How did he achieve so much happiness in the face of such adversity? What are the clues to handling the unexpected problems that life inevitably throws at us all? The answers to these questions are in "Bouncing Back to Life", which will be available in all good book stores in 2010.

There are many amazing people, like Jim, who courageously pull through difficult life challenges. This web site showcases some stories of these people in the section headed Survivor Tributes. So, whenever you need a bit of encouragement to keep trying, come on back and read these brief tributes of these inspiring people. And if you have a survivor story to tell, please eMail the story (about 300 words), and we'll add it to this collection.

If you know someone who is at risk of harming themselves, perhaps even taking their own life, please seek professional help from a local community agency - Australians can contact one of the Suicide Help Lines listed at right. We suggest people in other countries go to the others contact the international suicide helping organisation called "Befrienders" at www.befrienders.org.

Finally, we've added Jim's Photo Gallery to show pictures of Jim and Beth with their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, plus some friends - to emphasise the harvest they have reaped by hanging in there when times got tough and finding ways to adapt to the problems they have faced in their lives.

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