Author(s): Bill Williams

Biography and Memoir

Surviving cerebral catastrophe: a tale of the mind, mortality and modern medicine On a trip to visit Pintubi friends in the remote western desert of central Australia, GP Dr Bill Williams wakes to a nightmare. Gisela, his wife, is felled by a thunderclap headache. What are the possibilities - migraine? neuralgia? or a burst blood vessel in her brain. They are 1500 kilometres from the nearest brain surgeon. Bill has to move fast, really fast. Will the injury to memory, identity, language and consciousness be profound? Just how plastic is the human brain? Can it really be rewired? Bleed is a rollercoaster ride from dry riverbed to flying doctor, surgeon's knife to intensive care ward and way beyond. Bill Williams explores the origins and challenges of scientific medicine in a gripping story of narrowly averted tragedy and miraculous endurance, a celebration of human ingenuity and love. 'Bleed is a thrilling tale told from both sides of the medical encounter.' Dr Karen Hitchcock '...packed with action and emotion - much too extraordinary to be fiction.' Prof. Frederick Mendelsohn 'A great story of love, the most powerful force for healing we have.' Prof. Rob Moodie CAUTION: This book contains the names, images and stories of persons who are deceased.