A SHINFIELD man is sharing his story of abuse, trauma, mental illness and subsequent spiritual awakening in a new book.
Henry Willsher hopes that by sharing his experience of childhood abuse, it can teach people about mental illness, and offer hope.
Mr Willsher was one of 15 children abused in the Orkney child sex abuse scandal of 1991.
In his book, Whatever Happened to the ‘W’ Children?, Mr Willsher said that the book follows his journey from a childhood of abuse on an island farm, to institutional failure and mismanagement of the case.
Written in spring this year, after his mother’s death in February, Mr Willsher said the writing process was cathartic.
He had considered writing it earlier in his life, but his mother asked him to hold off until she passed away, he explained.
“In many ways, the book was already written in my head,” he said. “It took me two to three months. I lived it, I was there, it just needed to be put together.
“At some point I realised, I had to make sense of my past in order to move forward.”
He said that writing the first few chapters, discussing the abuse from his father, were more difficult.
“It hit me what Mum when through,” he said. “There was a lot of abuse that she put up with, that we never saw.
“She had 15 children and spent the best part of 20 years pregnant.”
He said that the book is not an explanation of the 1991 case, but focuses on his siblings’ struggle with mental illness.
It explores his own experiences within the care system.
“It begins as a memoir and ends as a message of hope,” Mr Willsher explained.
“We all suffer our own demons and overcome them. The overriding aspect is my spiritual journey through mental illness.”
Mr Willsher said the book explores the impact on some of his other siblings, and how the effects of abuse can be wide-ranging.
“I hope it will be a useful tool for people to understand how mental illness is integrated into life, allowing people to forgive themselves and others,” he said.
The author said he experienced a profound spiritual awakening after feeling as though he could not live with himself any longer.
He said he wanted to end the internal monologue that caused him suffering, and did this by separating his thoughts from himself.
“From there, I started doing things for more than myself, for charities, to leave an impact,” he said.
Mr Willsher now works as a counsellor for Greyfriars Church in Reading, outside of his day-job as a mechanical engineer.
Whatever Happened to the ‘W’ Children? was released on Friday, October 1, by Olympia Publishers.
It costs £7.99 and some of the proceeds go to the Mental Health Foundation and another mental health charity.
For more information, or to buy a copy of the book, visit: olympiapublishers.com/books/whatever-happened-to-the-w-children
