Australian Story: Feb 10

Australian Story profiles photographer David Murrell who survived a brain tumour removal and cancer diagnosis, filming his recovery across 3 years.

Three years ago, 35 year old fashion photographer David Murrell was told he had just months to live.

He had a tumour the size of an orange removed from his brain, which was diagnosed as highly aggressive cancer.

But by sheer fluke it emerged that his own father, a cell biologist, was part of a team in distant Norway that was working on an experimental vaccine for the very same kind of tumour.

“I’m a scientist, I don’t believe in coincidence! But rather than sit as a normal family would have to and just wait for the worst to happen, I decided I would do something,” Wayne Murrell says.

Dr Wayne Murrell talked to his boss at the Vilhelm Magnus Lab for Neurosurgical Research (part of the Oslo University Hospital).

He was able to secure a spot for David on the trial.

It involves using a dendritic cell vaccine to treat patients with grade four glibolastoma multiforme tumours.

From the moment David Murrell first realised something might be wrong, he turned the camera on himself.

He has documented his experiences moment by moment – from early consultations with famous specialists, the grim realities of surgery, and long trips to Norway where he’s rediscovered his relationship with his distant dad, through a mutual passion for Arabian horses.

It’s now nearly three years since the diagnosis and scans continue to show no sign of tumour regrowth.

8pm Monday ABC1.