Less than a year ago, an offhanded comment from a neighbour changed Bill Hick's life dramatically.

The change had begun twelve years ago when his brother, Kevin, suffered a severe brain injury but his commitment to both his music career and a partying lifestyle were preventing him from completing that process.

A professional drummer since he was fourteen, Bill was living and working in Vancouver when Kevin was injured in 1992. Given his proximity to the G. F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre where Kevin began his recovery process, he was able to visit regularly. Later when Kevin left the centre and moved back to Nanaimo, Bill began to feel that something was missing from his life.

He missed the dedicated staff at G. F. Strong and the sense of satisfaction he got from supporting Kevin and other patients so he returned to the centre as a volunteer and soon enrolled in a Community Support Worker's Program and other related programs at the Justice Institute.

When his mom's cancer returned a few years later, Bill moved back to Nanaimo. His whole being glowed as he described the kind of person his mom had been. It seems obvious that both he and Kevin have inherited her genes.

When his mom passed away, Bill took over the family home and, although he continued his music career and partying lifestyle, little by little, he began using his training and experience to provide support and accommodation for people with brain injuries.

Then, one after the other, neighbouring homes came on the market - he now owns four homes in a row - and Bill's Place was born offering different levels of support for people with brain injuries.

The Bill's Place pamphlet describes their services as follows: Individual client-based rehabilitation programs are planned, overseen and continually monitored by appropriate professionals. Bill's Place staff members are specifically selected and offer a wide variety of skills, backgrounds and personal experience.

"My philosophy," he enthused, "is that we are all just trying to progress - brain injury, bipolar, schizophrenia, what have you - we are all just trying to fit in, be happy, comfortable, safe, be inspired, progress, be the best we can be and reach our full potential."

As rewarding as this life may sound, Bill knew that music and its accompanying lifestyle were holding him back from reaching his full potential. For him service to others had to take precedence. Yet, try as he would, he couldn't convince himself to end his music career.

That's when Bill Clinton, his neighbour, made the comment that led to that eureka moment.

"You don't have to be just a humanitarian," he said. "You can be a humanitarian who also plays drums."

That's all it took. Soon Bill dropped out of Wonderbread, the local disco band, which had taken so much of his time and energy, and the partying lifestyle became a thing of the past as well.

Various guilts and frustrations had been getting in his way, he told me, and drinking had allowed him to avoid dealing with them. Given a clear head, the guilts and frustrations soon began to disappear one after the other.

Ten months ago the drinking habit was replaced by a physical fitness habit. It started when he began walking with a client. That evolved into jogging and now, in a few weeks, he'll compete in his first triathlon. I shouldn't have been surprised when he told me that the Iron Man in Hawaii is next on his list.

As you can see this man doesn't do things by half.

Bill and his brother, Kevin, will be drumming next Sunday at Maffeo-Sutton Park during the First Annual Casey Gallagher Music, Magic and Miracles brain injury awareness event (11 am to 6 pm).