Daniel Williams, of Brunswick, spent most of his life working as a sign language interpreter in schools. But on Dec. 15, 2007, his orderly life came to a screeching … and almost permanent … halt.

“I called an ambulance, because I couldn’t breathe,” he related. “I didn’t know I’d had a major heart attack.”

On the way to the hospital, they pulled over to start an IV, and suddenly Williams could breathe again.

But then things turned more than a little surreal.

“The EMTs stopped speaking English and started speaking in a language I hadn’t heard before. I got dizzy, and heard a whoosh, and there was suddenly a bright white light, and I could see a couple of little black silhouettes — not human shaped, but something else — on the floor. They reminded me of the Coneheads from “Saturday Night Live.” I realized I must be dreaming, and told myself to wake up.”

And when he woke, he discovered that he’d flat-lined and been shocked back into life.

While he was home recuperating, a friend told him he had been spared because he had a purpose in life.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, right,’ I’m 60 years old, about to retire,” he said. “A calling? But then I thought I probably did want to do something for the American Heart Association for their help during my recovery.”

So he cobbled together a performance with show tunes and other music, and sign language, and put his whole life on stage.

He told the story about what it was like growing up as a gay teenager in Maine whose secret had been discovered.

He told the story about what it was like to not have been in contact with his father for 16 years before his father died, divided forever by the fact of Williams’ sexuality.

He told the story of his darkest secret: a teenage suicide attempt.

And he told the story about how that person became a strong, successful adult.

The idea came about by a chance meeting with a deaf person.

Williams introduced the person to a song he’d learned while he was learning American Sign Language, and later taught a song that a friend had written, called ‘One Prayer’, about hatred, and learning to pray for those who hate.

Williams, who grew up as an outsider in his own society, knows all too well how important forgiveness can be.

Over the years, he’s felt called to do things to bring those who have felt outside back into society. He held an annual march on the anniversary of the death of Charlie Howard, who was murdered in Bangor in 1984.

But in 2003, he decided it was time to erect a memorial. It took a while, but today, there is a memorial to the life cut short by hatred that night.

“The monument is a large granite bowl, and they grow flowers in it,” he said. “The monument is beautiful, and it keeps people from forgetting what happened to Charlie that night.”

But would it prevent a tragedy like that from occurring again? Williams decided he had to try. “The show turned out to be the calling my friend was telling me about when I had my heart attack,” he said.

The show, called “Can U Here Me Know?”, will play again to benefit the American Cancer Society Saturday, November 9, at 7 p.m. at the Orion Performing Arts Center at Mt. Ararat Middle School. Tickets are $18 if ordered ahead of time, and $20 at the door. Call 512-8531 to pre-order.

The performance is recommended for adolescents and older.

ghamilton@timesrecord.com