David Sepulveda Photographs
William Twyford
Charity began at home on Sunday, for a Branford community looking to embrace and support three construction workers who were severely shocked on Jan. 8.
A charity event dubbed “Sunday Jam at the Castle,” was held on behalf of William Twyford, 57, and brothers Travis, 35, and Rory Moody, 27, at the landmark Bill Miller’s Castle on Route One in Branford, drawing a capacity crowd of well-wishers, friends and family.
The life-changing accident occurred when the men, while moving a ladder, came too close to live electrical wires. Travis Moody, who was one of the victims, had to have part of his left foot amputated after the accident. He said hot wires did not come into direct contact with the ladder, as some reports have indicated. The shock, he said, resulted when electricity arced from a nearby live wire to the ladder, striking the men. Both he and All Aspects of Carpentry business owner William Twyford were hospitalized with severe burns.
Travis Moody (left) with Chris Roberts, who administered CPR at the accident.
Rory Moody, brother of Travis, was just released from the hospital last week and is facing additional surgeries and some residual heart issues after having been resuscitated at the accident scene. Twyford, who is known as “Billy” to friends and is a popular music performer, like Rory, required resuscitation after going into cardiac arrest. The three men credit co-worker and friend Chris Roberts with acting quickly to provide CPR – helping save their lives. Branford firefighters, police officers and paramedics were also given credit as were attending doctors and nurses, in an emotional statement Twyford delivered before an attentive crowd. “It was very close” said Twyford, “If it were not for a lot of variables, we would not have made it,” he said.
Event co-organizer David Clow, an area musician who was part of the large music community that came out to support the event, is a close friend of Twyford. He said they sought out a big hall to hold the benefit and Bill Miller’s Castle, a rustic structure with hand-hewn beams and castle-like appointments, seemed like the best place. A reduction in their standard fees was a big help according to Clow. “The musicians came together with only eighteen hours of planning and we had to limit the number of bands that wanted to play,” he said, noting that members of the numerous bands and guest artists that played also donated the twenty-five dollar ticket price, as well as lending their time and talents.
Co-organizer Sue Calistro, whose efforts were on display through numerous donations from the business community, said, “very few turned us down.” Donated items helped raise additional funds through a silent auction and raffle. Calistro said cash donations can continue to be made to the “Friends of Bill, Travis and Rory Fund” at New Alliance Bank in North Branford, through next month.
A second benefit and celebration of life will take place at New Haven’s Café Nine on Sunday, February 21. Travis Moody, whose left hand remains bandaged, is a bass and stings player for Moody Blossom and Crown Street Orchestra Bands, an amalgam of Haven-based groups that perform weekly gigs at Café Nine.
After performing with his friends on stage at the charity event, Twyford, who bears a striking resemblance to actor Kevin Bacon, raised a glass, making what was perhaps the evening’s best toast: “To life, after death” he said, with an uncanny assurance few of us would know about.