Story behind the story: Erika Engel wrote about Alec Saunter-Williams and the AboutFace video campaign "See Beyond My Face" in December. You can read the original story here.
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If one day I’m working on a screenplay for an ambitious and slightly cartoonish mystery movie, it will be at the behest of Alec Saunter-Williams.
You haven’t seen any of his work because it’s all floating around as ideas in his eight-year-old brain at the moment.
But if I was a betting woman, I’d go all-in on him getting those ideas onto the big screen one day.
I met Alec only virtually (you know why …) in November. The interview was set up through AboutFace, a national charity advocating and supporting people with facial differences.
Alec has a facial difference caused by Goldenhar Syndrome, a congenital condition, that has left him with only one ear.
Kids are wonderful, but sometimes they don’t know what to do with a reporter/stranger asking questions. Alec, however, taught me a thing or two.
He was bright – intellectually speaking and also in the same way the sun's rays shine through your bedroom window on a Saturday morning.
I spend my days in a hectic fog, rushing articles to publish them before all of the information changes. I listen over and over again as someone explains the latest changes to the vaccination rollout, the most up-to-date advice on what mask to wear, when to go out, who you can have contact with, and the list goes on.
Alec pulled me out of that fog. That kid made my week and I doubt I’ll ever forget talking to him.
His facial difference, he told me, was an important part of him. But it was his insides that mattered most. Those intangible but palpable strengths of courage, confidence, and vitality that he built like the arches of a magnificent cathedral, and the towers of a castle.
This kid took the adversity, even meanness he faced from early infancy, and he decided he would start a revolution, first in himself and then, like that sunshine, all around him.
His choice to be in the AboutFace video campaign was as much about advocacy as it was about building a future career.
He has his sights set on a career in film and has already written, directed, and acted in his own Scooby Doo flicks at home.
He’s also a fellow Potterhead – that is a fan of the Harry Potter series.
After the article his mom emailed me to say Alec read the story and would like to know if he can hire me for scriptwriting when he becomes a film director.
She said Alec decided I’d be a “Gryffindor” with him because he thinks I’m brave and kind.
I don’t know if any other character reference has meant quite as much to me.
As a reporter, I try to channel the Jedis and Vulcans of my favourite science fiction and go about my work without allowing emotions or opinions any influence.
But I’m not ashamed to say Alec inspired me, and he touched my cold, dark heart.
Recently I received another email, this one from a relative of Alec’s who lives out of province. She said she didn’t know Alec very well because of the distance, but learned a lot about him and his family’s journey by reading the article.
She said she smiled while reading his story and she would treasure it.
There’s a lot of egos in the media and I am afraid to add my own big head to the bunch.
But dammit, I’m proud I was good enough to tell the story of Alec the Brave.
I see a future with a director’s chair with your name on it, Alec.
