William The Warrior Bear
Each book includes a stuffed William Warrior Bear which comes with The Andrew Christian Bryce theme song “WALK ON MIGHTY WARRIOR” song when you squeeze his tummy. Perfect for someone going through a difficult time.
In 1999, Andrew's mother, Kyle Bryce, formed the Andrew Christian Bryce Foundation, which is dedicated to providing support and encouragement to children facing life-threatening ailments and to their families. The foundation provides the children with a warrior medal and a ceremony to honor their bravery. Several years ago, the foundation awarded Wood's son Christian with a medal. Born with an extra ball of veins and arteries in his abdomen, he faced surgery as an infant. He had an enlarged heart and was missing the femoral artery on his right side. Another surgery at 11 to have a Gore-Tex artery implanted failed. Now 19, he continues to live with the condition, longer than doctors predicted. "He was not expected to survive, but he did and that's why he received his medal from Kyle," Wood said.Through that connection, the two women became friends and Wood became involved with the foundation. Several years ago, she wrote the song "Walk on Mighty Warriors." When approached by Bryce to do something for the foundation's second annual Mother's Day Walk in Troy, Wood was stumped. "I sat there and thought maybe a poem because I love to write poetry or a song, and it just wasn't coming to me. You know I always pray about everything before I try and put it on paper, and nothing was coming and I just kept putting the pen down," she said.
After talking with her family about what she might do for the foundation, the story came to her. Once she had it written, her 14-year-old nephew Joshua Aaron Blake drew the illustrations. The title character is named after Wood's own father, William Blake, who passed away two years ago, and "Warrior" refers to Andrew. Because of her experiences with a seriously ill child, Wood feels she understands what other families go through and was able to put her heart into this project. "It needed to be out there, so we could make people more aware of what the children go through, because a lot of times ... they get left behind because they can't do things like other children," she said.
All proceeds from "William Warrior Bear," which is available at local Borders Bookstores, will go to the Andrew Christian Bryce Foundation. Wood wanted to make the book positive and focus on how brave and strong these children are, and offer understanding and support for their parents. She based the main character on all the stories she has heard about Andrew. "They say no matter how many surgeries he had or when he was coming out of surgery, he always made the nurses laugh. He was really positive," Wood said. So far, Wood has received praise for the book from someone who knows.
"It's really awesome. It's a beautiful, beautiful book," Bryce says. " 'Let hope live' is our trademark slogan. ... The bottom line is just encourage them and keep that hope alive because hope is everything." |
"William the Warrior”, inspired by the life of Andrew Christian Bryce, Written & donated by author Debra Wood. Coping with and understanding a serious illness is difficult and painful enough for adults. Watching a child face and fight a cancer diagnosis is unthinkable. Parents who have had to endure this pain are the only ones who truly understand the depths of fear they and their child feel.
Debra Wood, 43, of Gansevoort, is hoping her new book, "William Warrior Bear," will offer comfort and understanding for child cancer patients and their families. The book tells the story of William Warrior Bear, a little bear who battles against his own cancer and who, through the love and support of his friends and family and his strong faith, learns to be strong and brave. Wood found inspiration for the book in the life of Andrew Christian Bryce, a young boy from Troy she has only heard about. "I never got to meetAndrew, but I just heard so many wonderful things about him. He was 7 years old when they realized he had pediatric brain cancer and he was 11 years old when he passed away," she said.