By IN-SUNG YOO The News Journal
When Bill Cawley works out in a shirt and tie, he draws a lot of stares.
The wheelchair likely has something to do with it, too. But the business attire seems completely out of place. That is, until you learn that Cawley doesn't sweat, the result of a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down. He doesn't need to change his shirt after exercising, so he can go straight to work in the mornings.
In the 14 years since his injury, Cawley, 37, has learned how important it is to smile in the face of adversity. He jokingly refers to his inactive sweat glands as one of the "fringe benefits" of having your spinal cord broken from the neck down.
Cawley's life as a quadriplegic began in 1992. Then 24 years old, he jumped off a picnic table on a dock at his friend's New Jersey Shore house into the bay below. It was the same table he'd jumped off numerous times before. But this time, his foot slipped and he barely cleared the railing. His head and neck caught the edge of the slip dock below.
His doctors told him he was paralyzed -- a quadriplegic -- and wouldn't be able to live independently for the rest of his life.
The news was crushing. But rather than being dragged down by his fear, he harnessed it. Instead of wondering about what-ifs, he set his eyes on a goal and never looked back.
"I didn't really spend a lot of time rehashing it," he said. "I knew I wasn't going to cure myself, but I needed my independence."
Not only did he want to be independent, he wanted to work full time -- goals he set while his neck and head were still immobilized in an orthopedic halo. And his plan was to achieve both goals within one year of the accident.
He started by relearning "literally everything"-- sitting up in bed, getting dressed, eating and even putting change in a vending machine. Everyday activities required a new approach.
His legs were a lost cause, but his arms and hands, though weak and tightly curled into stiff claws, still had some function after he left the hospital.
