Australian Story: Feb 25

Monday’s Australian Story features Peter Ford …. but no, not that one…

This one is a former war correspondent who channels his ‘inner-nerd’ to help people with severe disability communicate.

In 1981 Peter Ford moved to the United States to become a foreign correspondent and news anchor, having failed first year medicine much to the despair of his conservative, cattle-farming parents.

He covered all the big stories in the 1980’s and 1990’s for CNN and NBC, reporting from the first Gulf War theatre and the Cape Canaveral space launches.

However, beneath Peter Ford’s made-for-television good looks there beat the heart of a real computer nerd.

In an era when the computer was only beginning to make its presence felt in modern newsrooms, his self-taught programming skills eventually offered him the opportunity to re-enter the world of medicine.

Long inspired by the famous physicist, Professor Steven Hawking, Peter Ford longed to invent a device that would enable this genius to escape the bounds of his crippled body.

‘I thought, this magnificent intellect trapped in a body that was no longer functioning … was a classic survivor story where human spirit will prevail no matter what restrains it physically. And I thought if we could patch his intellectual processor into a main frame he could bypass a lot of disabilities. And so that planted a seed,’ says Peter Ford.

Australian Story tells the story of a man who gave up a glittering career in front of the camera, to create something that could help humanity.

‘He was a very successful news anchor and a very successful journalist. So to give all that up and pursue this dream, this is pursing something much more humanitarian and he’s given up endless years of I guess money-making ability to do this so it’s very, very important to him,’ says Sally Loane, partner.

Working pro bono and collaborating with experts, Peter Ford developed a device that enabled paralyzed patients with virtually no functioning muscles, to connect to their computer and begin to communicate with the outside world.

‘Peter has helped our patients over the last eight years. This field has gotten under his skin. He has seen my patients with this awful disease and he’s seen patients with the same disease all round the world – in France, in Britain, in the US, and he’s implemented this device and he’s seen how it actually makes their lives better,’ says Dominic Rowe, Professor of Neurology, Macquarie University.

Now his globetrotting lifestyle is accommodating a new partnership – one that involves the heart not the brain. But he’ll never really settle down or give up his real passion.

‘The most important things of my life are converging. So, because of telepresence and telemedicine I can spend more time here. I definitely want to spend it with Sally, this relationship is very important and I want it to endure,’ says Peter Ford.

Australian Story includes footage of Peter Ford trialling his device, called Neuroswitch, with Professor Steven Hawking.

8pm Monday on ABC1.