A Meaford world premiere was held tonight, and by all accounts, it was a huge success. Fortunately, there’s still time to catch this made-in-Meaford production tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday at Meaford Hall.

Back at the turn of the 20th century, a 17 year-old Bruce Peninsula boy fell against the blade of a huge sawmill buzzsaw and lost both his forearms. The boy was Andrew Gawley, and his heartwarming story of perseverance made him something of a local hero in Meaford, where he eventually settled and ran a repair shop – using the two steel arms he and his blind father fashioned.

Were this tale fiction, you might have a hard time believing it. But now his true story has come to the stage in a play written by Meaford Deputy Mayor Harley Greenfield, and produced, directed and acted by local folks working with Meaford’s Community Theatre group.

Harley remembers, when he was very young, seeing Andrew Gawley in town. He realized the inspirational story of someone overcoming this kind of physical tragedy and eventually becoming a celebrity profiled in newsreels and travelling with Ripley’s Believe It or Not shows was ripe for the telling.

He wrote “Andrew Gawley: The Man with the Steel Hands”, and was pleased to hve Meaford Community Theatre take it on.

“We must remember,” says Harley, “Most people thought at first that he would surely die, and then that he would be absolutely helpless for the remainder of his life, a life that would only lead to misery and despair. But Andy was a fighter, a true life survivor, and he would not succumb to his injuries. He was likely a hundred years ahead of his time when it comes to proving to the world that a handicapped person can be not only a contributor, but also a leader.”

Get tickets at the Meaford Hall website, call 1.877.538.0463 or visit the box office.

An AP story about Andrew Gawley from the St. Petersburg, Florida Evening Independent April 12, 1932