60 Minutes: Aug 12

On 60 Minutes it’s a feelgood story about a people-friendly magpie that’s due to have it’s own movie.

Gamble of Life
Soon after meeting and falling in love, Andrew and Olivia Densley agreed they both adored kids and wanted a large family. They got married and got on with their dream. But after having their fourth child they received terrible news. Their third child, a son, had a genetic immune deficiency disease which looked likely to kill him. Just when all seemed lost though, he was saved by a long-shot miracle. His little brother, the couple’s fourth child, was a match as a bone marrow donor. But as Tom Steinfort reports, at this point the story gets even more complicated. While Andrew and Olivia knew the substantial risks of having more children, it didn’t stop them. Olivia fell pregnant with a fifth child who was also born with the usually fatal disease. But having rolled the dice and lost, the couple refused to give up. It has taken several years and a hundred thousand dollars, but they’ve managed to engineer another extraordinary solution.
Reporter: Tom Steinfort
Producer: Stefanie Sgroi

A Magpie called Penguin
Somewhere, flying around the northern beaches of Sydney, is a magpie called Penguin who often thinks she’s a human. And if that’s not incredible enough, this amazing bird has another claim to fame – she’s a lifesaver. Penguin taught Sam Bloom, a mother of three, how to live again after she fell from a balcony, broke her back and became a paraplegic. It’s a truly inspiring tale that not surprisingly will also soon be a Hollywood movie.
Reporter: Allison Langdon
Producer: Bryce Corbett

Hell of a View
It is a hell of a view, or some might say, a view of hell – the rivers of molten lava flowing from the Mount Kilauea volcano and reshaping the Hawaiian countryside and coastline. As Liz Hayes finds out, up close, it’s completely mesmerising and more than a little bit frightening. The lava stops for nothing. In the last three months, since the volcano has woken, it has consumed countless homes and destroyed many livelihoods. But strangely, most locals living in its path show an acceptance of the fury in their backyards. And that’s just as well, because scientists are predicting the eruptions probably won’t stop for years.
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Grace Tobin

8:30pm Sunday on Nine.