Australian Story: April 25

Next week Australian Story revisits a story from a decade when cameras followed a family’s decision to harvest stem cells.

At the centre of their decision was their daughter who suffers from leukaemia.

This episode is introduced by Caroline Jones.

Ten years ago, Nicola and Jim Walker received the news that every parent dreads. Their two-year-old daughter Abby was diagnosed with leukaemia, a life-threatening illness.

“I would do anything to save my daughter’s life. You just want to make sure that your baby’s going to be OK.” – Nicola Walker, mother

Abby’s parents hit upon a controversial course of action – to have another child and harvest stem cells from the new baby’s umbilical cord in case Abby relapsed and needed a transplant.

“It was only when I spoke to the nurse, she just mentioned am I going to have any more children, and then she spoke about stem cells and said that they can actually be used to transplant into Abby if she relapses. That’s when I thought at that moment, I should definitely have another child.” – Nicola Walker

The Walker’s invited Australian Story to film with them as they embarked on this solution, providing intimate access to a deeply moving family experience.

In this Australian Story update, we revisit the family to find out how Abby is faring and the consequences of their unusual decision.

“I was a bit concerned about James finding out that his stem cells had been stored for Abby because I thought maybe he would be quite angry at the fact that he may think that we just had him for that reason, which is not the case.” – Nicola Walker

“Abby is 11 years old now she’s a very happy child; she’s very healthy, fit and healthy.” – Jim Walker, father

“I do think I’m a different person. It has just taught me to be brave, strong and, yeah, nothing scares me.” – Abby Walker

Monday, April 25 at 8pm on ABC.