Austin man with terminal illness hopes to inspire others through his comic book

Terminally ill Austin man writes comic book

A north Austin man is making his dream come true after a scary medical diagnosis. He is now a published author, and he hopes to use his journey to inspire others.

AUSTIN, Texas - Anthony Castro is a now published author living in north Austin, but his journey was not easy. In 2021, Castro was diagnosed with a degenerative heart condition. After his initial diagnosis, he was bed bound for three months.

"When I first got diagnosed, it was really bad," Castro said. "I didn't know how long I was going to have. I still don't."

Castro is dying of heart failure; through the diagnosis he realized how precious time is.

"I think people focus too much on other things instead of their dreams," Castro said. "And they think they have a lot of this time, but you really don't," says Castro.

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Being bed bound really put a toll on Castro's mental health. So, he decided to start drawing.

Those drawings became his newest comic book character.

"I didn't like having that gray cloud hovering over me all the time, reminding me of it," Castro said. "So, I got rid of it and decided to just live my life, like I said, pursue my dream."

Castro's dream came true after writing and publishing his comic book, 'Bad Wabbit.' The main character relates to many adults who may be struggling in life.

"I think that a lot of people can gravitate towards that," Castro said. "He has a very traumatic past, and I kind of want it through the series to tell people that no matter how low you feel you've fallen, there's always a way back."

Even if people aren’t into comic books, Castro hopes to send a message to others to go out and pursue their dreams, whatever they may be.

"I was doing this, like I said, just to kind of follow my own dream," Castro said. "But to have people come to me and say that my story, my personal story, to get all this done, has inspired them to change their life is, you know, that's more than I can ask for."

Castro is thankful for all those who came out to his book signing this weekend. He is not sure when he will do another one, but he hopes it will happen soon.