(1) SATURDAY MORNING SOCCER - A YOUNG GREEK-AUSTRALIAN DAD WITH MS IS DESPERATE TO GET TREATMENT IN RUSSIA

MUSIC

TITLE:

MELBOURNE

14 MARCH

NICK GETTING OUT OF CAR (2C / 00.01):

Alright, come on guys.

MUSIC

Once upon a time, before our world was turned upside down, parents like Nick and Nektaria Dimos took their kids to play sport on the weekend.

NICK TO OTHER BLOKES (00.54):

How are you, bud?  How are you man?

It was before we shunned handshakes and hugs…

…when we could hold our grandchildren close.

SIA TOSSED AROUND BY HER GRANDAD (2C / 2.06)

BARISTA:

Both iced espressos or iced cappuccinos?

NICK:

Both cappuccinos.

BARISTA:

Both?

-       Yes.

It was before the Oakleigh Cannons Football Club, a hub for the local Greek community, closed its doors.

NICK ON SIDELINES (2C / 6.05):

Yioti, you're training here. You're training here not down there.

(10.17) You’re going to play with your team.

Nick practically grew up here. 

His dad was one of the club founders, and now he and his wife, Nektaria, come to watch their two sons train…

8 year-old Achilles.

ACHILLES (2C / 8.15):

I don’t want to kick no kid in the head again.

And 4-year old Yioti.

UPSOT YIOTI TRAINING

NICK ON SIDELINES (2C / 27.31):

Yeah pretty much everyone is related in this club.

That’s my dad, Achilles.

This is my uncle Stelio, my godbrother George. That's his dad. That's my mate, Tony. So we all grew up together, went to school together. Parents are from the same village back in Greece.

They’re all desperately worried about Nick.

Two years ago, when he was 35, he was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

It’s often called an invisible disease, because the effects aren’t always obvious.

AMOS (3C / 1.02.24):

So are you feeling anything now?

NICK:

Knee feels a bit jarred, my body feels really stiff. Still moving around and stuff but even just trying to go for a jog just feels disjointed. Doesn't feel right. 

(1.02.54) You literally could be walking and then all of a sudden, you just stumble.   

Nick’s diagnosis turned his world upside down.

SUPER:

NICK DIMOS

SUPER:

NEKTARIA DIMOS

NICK INTERVIEW (6C / 9.39): 

I just remember three neurologists, sat my brother and my wife down and I just knew there was something wrong. Um, and then they sort of told us that you've got MS. Um, and it's just alarm bells in the head going and you just think to yourself, Holy shit, there's no cure for this

and you're just going to be left in a wheelchair

NEKTARIA (2C / 11.27):

I remember screaming so loud outside the front of Box Hill hospital.

Since then, Nick’s been plagued by fatigue, migraines, blurred vision, pain and numbness in his legs – and dread about what still lies in store.

NICK TO FRIEND (2C / 7.08):

They gotta check for this whole coronavirus thing.

In a week’s time he’s supposed to fly to Moscow for a stem cell transplant – a treatment that halts the progression of MS in about 80 – 90% of cases like Nick’s.

GREEK SUBREEL

UNCLE (2C / 41.39):

It’s going to be affected, your trip?

NICK (41.40):

I don't know Uncle. We will see if anything changes but I'm due to leave on Friday.

It involves chemotherapy, which will suppress his immune system.

NICK (2C / 26.10):

I believe it will be OK but we will see.

NICK INTERVIEW (1.07.58):

I was still adamant that as long as I’m permitted to travel, I’m heading over and I’m doing this treatment.

COACH:

Yioti, that was brilliant stuff today, mate. I’m looking forward to coaching you next week OK?

MS is an auto-immune disease, which means Nick’s immune system doesn’t just defend him from infections – it attacks healthy cells.  

(2) MS EXPLAINER

ANIMATED GFX

MUSIC

No one knows why it happens, but MS damages the protective coating on nerves in your brain and spine, causing lesions –

Nick has more than 50.

These distort messages from the brain to the rest of the body, sometimes leading to severe disability.

There’s no known cure.

ABC NEWS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aHkihCdQGk&t=312s

A handful of celebrities have drawn attention to this mysterious disease – most recently, Hollywood actress Selma Blair.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvrqnUYnbc7/

SELMA BLAIR MAKEUP VIDEO:

People.  Brush, big.  Bronzer.

SELMA BLAIR (ABC NEWS / 00:34)

When I first got MS I had no idea what it was, or how it would affect me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUgzuNQZWw

60 MINUTES BUG

KRISTY (3.19):

Come up, we got to get your shoes. Come on love.  Shouldn’t have done that.

Back in 2014, Gold Coast nurse Kristy Cruise showed Australians how debilitating MS can be, when she appeared on 60 Minutes.

KRISTY (3.37):

I have the sensation of bugs crawling all over my head and my shoulders all the time.

NURSE WALKING INTO KRISTY’S ROOM (60M / 11.24)

She was also the inspiration for many Australians seeking stem cell treatment overseas.

KRISTY (60M / 15.47):

It’s a scary thing to do and even scarier when you are in a foreign country”

It’s the same procedure used in bone marrow transplants for leukemia patients.

Blood stem cells are removed from your bone marrow…

Then a high dose of chemotherapy is used to knock out your immune system, which is the source of the MS…

DR FED (60M / 15.25):

Kristy Cruise stem cells!

KRISTY:

That’s awesome.

And then your stem cells are reinfused, rebooting your immune system.

Although the treatment doesn’t claim to reverse the damage done by MS, some people get lucky.

60 MINUTES 1 TACKY MUSIC (8.49)

This was Kristy after her treatment.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1088372627898718

KRISTY (1.16ish):

My MS has completely stopped since I had my treatment. 

(3) EARLY MORNING FAMILY AT HOME – WHY DOES NICK NEED TO GO TO RUSSIA FOR TREATMENT?

Neurologists say take drugs, but these have risks and aren’t very effective

MUSIC

NICK WITH WEETBIX (1D / 6.02):

Alright guys, brekkie.

Stem cell transplants, known as HSCT, have been very successful in clinical trials, especially for young patients with relapsing remitting MS – but the treatment isn’t widely available anywhere in the world.

UPSOT BOWLS PUSHED TO KIDS (1D / 8.38)

And although his current neurologist supports his plans to seek treatment abroad, he says most are dismissive.

NICK INTERVIEW (6C / 40.33): 

I spoke to many of my, I guess my previous MS neurologists about HSCT, they were all against it. Um, some of the feedback I was getting was, “No, it's not proven. It's still being tested. Don't do it. It's going to kill you”.

TECFIDERA AD (00.07):

This is Tecfidera.

Nick was offered the standard first line of treatment for his MS – drugs.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AYGn/tecfidera-relapsing-multiple-sclerosis

AD UPSOT

Although they don’t come with the upfront risk of a stem cell transplant – which has a mortality rate of around half a percent –

drugs only hold out the promise of slowing, rather than halting the disease.

They’re often ineffective, and many come with significant health risks.

TECFIDERA AD (00.25):

Tecfidera may cause serious side effects such as allergic reactions, PML, which is a rare brain infection which usually leads to death or severe disability…

NICK INTERVIEW (6C / 24.06):

I jumped onto an MS drug called Aubagio. Um, so I was taking Aubagio tablets, um, every single day for up to 12 months…

AUBAGIO AD

https://vimeo.com/153554227

AUBAGIO AD (3.52):

Since I’ve been on Aubagio I haven’t had any relapses and my doctor hasn’t seen any progression in disability.

NICK INTERVIEW (6C / 24.15):

But they obviously didn't work for me. Um, lesions continued.

NICK AT HOME

In Australia, clinical trials for stem cell transplants only accept people who’ve failed to respond to multiple drug treatments.

Nick’s been told he doesn’t qualify, because he hasn’t tried – and failed – at least one other drug.

NICK INTERVIEW (6C / 38.13):  

Which leaves us dumbfounded as to why on earth am I meant to be trying MS drugs. You want me to progress in the form of disability before you give me an opportunity to actually get my life back.

(6C / 47.30) I guess we're just frustrated, frustrated that they've been doing a trial in Australia since 2012 and not allow MS patients to jump onto this and reap the benefits of it and force us to go abroad for treatment.

(4) MEETING THE AUSTRALIAN ALREADY IN MOSCOW

MOSCOW GVs

MUSIC

TITLE:

MOSCOW

While Nick’s getting ready for his trip to Moscow…

I learn that there are already 4 Australians with MS getting stem cell transplants at the AA Maximov Hospital.

OPENING HOSPITAL WINDOW IN THE SNOW:

I’ll turn the Russian aircon on.

Around a thousand foreign patients have received stem cell transplants here – each paying around AU$80,000.

More than 200 of them have come from Australia – often after months of online fundraising.

UPSOT MICHAEL HEAD SHAVING (0R):

Here we go!

Michael Jones, from Brisbane, is the most recent arrival.

He got here on the 10^th of March – a day before the World Health Organisation declared covid-19 a pandemic.

SUPER:

MICHAEL JONES

AMOS (1M / 17.58):

So tell me about coronavirus. How did you feel heading over to Russia when you know, you, it was already around?

MICHAEL:

In Queensland particularly it wasn't that severe. We were at about 20 cases when I made the call to jump.

but it got worse and worse as I headed over

(19.03) as I was in the air travelling, like significantly worse at a, at a right of knots.

(19.20) It's one hell of a complication with flights home. I have a flight booked for the 12th of April, but who knows whether it'll still be there.

UPSOT MICHAEL HEAD SHAVING (0R / 00.48):

Nurse, can we leave the fringe?

Michael’s treatment will last another month, and like Nick Dimos, he feels this is his only hope of stopping his MS.

MICHAEL LUNCH PTC (8R):

OK had a bit of a sleep after the last chemo, bit of a mess, sorry about that. Lunch is served… I will show you.  Not entirely sure what it is. Bread with every meal, always a soup, the soups are great, um, looks like some sort of grain, some sort of meat, some sort of sauce.  Lunch is serviceable, it’s breakfast that’s a problem – the porridge.

(5) BORDERS CLOSE – NICK CAN’T GO TO RUSSIA – MEETING POPPY

MUSIC – suspense, anticipation

TITLE:

MELBOURNE

17 MARCH

TV NEWS ANNOUNCER (3C / 1.28.19):

7,000 lives have been lost in total worldwide. Here in Australia 375 cases have been confirmed so far.

Nick and Nektaria are due to fly to Moscow in three days’ time – they’ve already started packing.

But they woke up to some worrying news.

NEKTARIA ON PHONE (2.03.49):

Have you heard that they're closing the borders for Australians, Russia?

VOICE WITH RUSSIAN ACCENT (2.03.56):

Please contact consular section

They’re discovering that there are no certainties, as the pandemic becomes real.

NICK PHONECALL 3 (1.03.19):

So at this stage everything’s up in limbo.

NICK PHONECALL 2 (1.25.39):

Um, so just waiting for the hospital to, I guess reach out and advise of next steps…

GUY ON PHONECALL 1 (3C / 1.58.12):

Obviously all countries are closing borders, but they do have special considerations in special cases.  Maybe with Russia, you’re one of those special cases.

NEKTARIA (1.42.03):

I'm not sure what to think anymore.

In the middle of all the confusion, they have a visitor… the woman who inspired their decision to go to Russia.

NICK AND POPPY GREET, JOKE ABOUT WHETHER TO TAP ELBOWS (3C / 19.42)

Poppy Siachos went to Moscow four years ago to treat her own MS.

POPPY (19.50):

What's happening? Russia's closed their borders.

NICK:

Oh fuck. It's nuts. It's um, yeah, I haven't received anything from the hospital yet.

(23.36) Just gotta roll with it.  Take a seat. 

SUPER:

POPPY SIACHOS

POPPY AT NICK’S PLACE (3C / 27.43)

I feel really blessed that I've been and often met the team there. And, uh, um, I've stopped, stopped its progression. I have not had any new lesions. It's been four years. I don't take any medication at all.

NICK:

That's awesome.

POPPY:

And I just, yeah, I want that same thing for you. Honestly.

NICK (3C / 29.15):

After speaking to you the first time we met you just walked me through your story. It was like, yeah, this is going to happen. We're going to do it. So yeah, very grateful for that.

POPPY:

Oh, I'm glad. I have goose bumps. Because you know, I feel like Kristy Cruise shared her story with everybody and I was able to, you know, get advice from her and she helped me and I have to help others.

MUSIC

POPPY:

But I will wish you all the best. I will be in touch anyway.

POPPY PUTS ON SANITISER (58.08):

You’ll be right.  Just focus on you, right?

POPPY - PAN FROM NEKTARIA (58.23)

And just one day at a time.

NICK:

Yeah exactly. It’s all you can do right now. Thank you so much for coming past.

POPPY:

No worries.

MUSIC

The hospital in Moscow finally contacts Nick to confirm the bad news.

NICK (2.06.20):

Anastasia, she said, um,

(2.06.49) “Let's delay, but we'll find out a date when situation is stable again and we'll work normally. We will accept you in our first group of patients when restrictions will be cancelled. Is that okay?”

AMOS (2.08.13):

It's quite an emotional roller coaster.

NICK:

Oh it is, mate. It's just up and down.

(2.12.52) Head's about to explode.

(2.13.03) It's like so close to getting this thing done and now it just looks like it's so far away again.

AMOS (1.11.30):

What's your biggest fear right now?

NICK:

Biggest fear right now is the MS progressing. Me getting another episode that may result in further disability, and God knows what that disability could bring. That's the scariest thing.

(6) MOSCOW - WHAT’S HAPPENING TO MICHAEL?

MUSIC

TITLE:

24 MARCH

PUBLIC ADDRESS BEEP (00.18)

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT:

Visitors are reminded of the requirement to help stop the spread of coronavirus by keeping your distance from other people.

I can’t follow Nick to Russia anymore.

MUSIC

But I’m still keen to follow Michael’s progress as best I can from my home in Melbourne.

AMOS (1M / 1.36):

So how are you feeling today? Like what, what stage of the treatment are you at?

MICHAEL:

So this is my last day of chemotherapy, I’m hooked up at the moment. Um, yeah, look, I was a little bit nauseous this morning, but it's nothing unmanageable quite frankly.

Video of Michael posing with Dr Fedorenko (16R)

MUSIC

This is Dr Denis Fedorenko…

A Russian haematologist who’s revered by the thousands of MS sufferers he’s treated.

He’s the reason Michael’s in Moscow.

ANASTASIA POPS INTO SHOT (16R / 00.21):

Tadaaa!

UPSOT:

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

MICHAEL:

Oy, oy, oy!

AMOS (1F / 2.43):

Oh hello!

ANASTASIA:

OK, do you hear us?

AMOS:

I hear you and I see you.

AMOS (2F / 00.14):

I'm sorry I cannot be there too to meet you in person.

DR FEDORENKO:

OK, I’m happy to meet you personally too. And I am ready to answer all your questions.

SUPER:

DR DENIS FEDORENKO

HEMATOLOGIST

AMOS (2F / 25.52):

Sometimes in the media, this treatment is, is described as a, as a miracle cure. Do you think that maybe some patients come to you and their expectations are too high? They think that it can cure their multiple sclerosis.

DR FEDORENKO:

All patients understand that this is not 100% successful treatment. They know statistic and unfortunately sometimes disease comes back, but we try to do the best. If we compare transplantation with other technologies this treatment is much more effective.

Nurse cleaning Michael’s room (18R)

MUSIC

PTC STEM CELL REINFUSION DAY (00.00):

So preparing for stem cell transplantation, the last part of the process.  The nurse has been in, sterilised the room, did a full clean up.

(00.20) It doesn’t sound too invasive from the people that’ve gone before me, my Australian friends that have completed this in the last couple of days. All seemed relatively well. Doesn’t stop me being nervous about it, to be honest. 

STEM CELL REINFUSION (15R / 00.00):

OK, do you feel ok?

MICHAEL:

Yeah, I’m alright.

Even in Russia, there’s resistance to stem cell transplants as a first-line of treatment for MS patients.

It’s only available free to a handful of Russians enrolled in clinical trials. 

STEM CELL REINFUSION (15R / 00.15): Your blood pressure is also fine.  Heart rate well. Nothing dangerous or problems.

Dr Fedorenko is frustrated by how difficult it is to win over the medical establishment.

STEM CELL REINFUSION (15R / 2.02):

All done.

MICHAEL:

All done?

- Yes

AMOS (2F / 7.18):

Why do you think that everywhere in the world this is still considered an experimental treatment? What is the resistance?

DR FEDORENKO 7.33):

Lack of cooperation between specialists because the disease is neurological, the treatment is hematological .  Aso, um, maybe pharmaceutical business because nowadays they have result of randomised trial which compare transplantation, and the best disease modifying drug. This is American and European trial published last year. So transplantation is much more effective.

DR FEDORENKO “STEM CELL BIRTHDAY” WITH MICHAEL (17R)

The day after Michael’s stem cells are reinfused, there’s a special ceremony to mark the rebirth of his immune system.

He pours out dry ice used to store the stem cells, before going into isolation - where he’s safe from infection while his immune system recovers.

MUSIC

TITLE:

SYDNEY

Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital is one of three now performing stem cell transplants on MS patients.

But all are still in the clinical trial phase.

MUSIC

DR HAMAD AUDIO ONLY (10C / 7.50):

St Vincent's hospital has the first MS transplant program in the country.

Dr Nada Hamad is director of the Hematology Clinical Trials Unit at St Vincent’s.

DR HAMAD SITS DOWN AND GREETS AMOS

SUPER:

DR NADA HAMAD

ST VINCENTS HOSPITAL

AMOS:

This is a treatment which as you say, has had very, very promising results. It offers in, in halting the disease something that none of the drugs offer and it's a treatment you're obviously comfortable with at St Vincent's. Why the restrictions on who can get this treatment and who can’t?

DR HAMAD INTERVIEW (10C / 21.26):

It's very hard for us to say with absolute certainty that the safety is guaranteed and the risks are quantifiable, the data is just not mature yet. We look forward to seeing that data. And there are active phase three randomized control trials internationally. There's at least a few of those that will mature in the next few years.

AMOS (10C / 25.22):

Can you understand why some people are angry that they can't access this in Australia and why they're choosing to go to Russia and, and pay for treatment?

NADA (26.31):

Of course I understand the frustration of patients not being able to take control of their own destinies and make their own choices. Um, but I feel that it's important

(26.52) to appreciate that we are trying our best to be able to offer this treatment safely and in an individualized way to make sure that the risks that we do take are actually reasonable risks to take.

(7) THINGS TAKE A DRAMATIC TURN – MICHAEL CAN’T GET HOME

HOSPITAL GVs

MUSIC

TITLE:

MOSCOW

1 APRIL

MICHAEL VIDEO DIARY (19R / 00.00):

So I’m in day 5 of isolation, got a chart here that tracks my blood counts and all those sorts of things.

(19R / 00.21) My immune system is officially dead as a doornail.

When Michael arrived in Moscow, there were very few reported cases of coronavirus in Russia, and its government didn’t seem too concerned.

MUSIC

That’s changed now - since Michael’s gone into isolation, Moscow’s gone into lockdown.

AMOS (2.17):

What's the news? What's happening?

MICHAEL (2BM / 00.25):

There seems to be no flights whatsoever. Um, in or out of Russia at the moment.

AMOS (2BM / 1.15):

So there's, there's literally no way that you can get on a plane and get back here at the moment?

MICHAEL:

There’s really nothing. There is not one single flight scheduled in or out.

AMOS (2BM / 7.19):

And what do you know about what will happen when your treatment ends? 

Can you stay there?

MICHAEL:

The problem now is that

This facility will start taking on coronavirus patients.

which for a group of people with no immune system is a scary situation.

So maybe a hotel in Moscow somewhere, it's all really suboptimal.

You know, I could deal with the COVID19 issue on a flight because that's, that's a tangible.

But living in a hotel unprotected for a month in a foreign country, totally different paradigm. Um, you know, I'm not sure what to do

Worried about my own safety now more than anything else.

AMOS (2BM / 20.34):

You take care Michael.

MICHAEL:

Righto, thanks Amos. See ya

AD BREAK 1

(8) MICHAEL’S ESCAPE ROUTE & THE WIFE WHO’S HELPING

MOSCOW

MUSIC

HOSPITAL GVs

TITLE:

MOSCOW

6 APRIL

AMOS (3BM / 00.20):

You've got a bit of hair loss going on there it seems.

MICHAEL:

I have an awful lot of hair loss going on. Um, and I have, I haven't shaved. That's just coming out by itself.

AMOS (3BM / 2.00):

So the last time I spoke to you, you were a little stressed cause you wouldn't sure what was going to happen when the treatment finished.

MICHAEL (3BM / 2.45)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

AMOS:

Have you got some other options?

MICHAEL (2.48):

Oh yeah, oh yeah. So what's happened… We've organized a private jet out of Moscow, um, to Heathrow.

(3.12) This fellow has a mother and a sister both with MS and sort of a great deal of compassion for the cause. So he's not only offered to do it, he's offered to do it almost profit free. This guy is some kind of saint. Seriously, he’s going to look after us.

(11.39) Dead set guardian angel.

MICHAEL (3BM / 3.48):

Sorry, Dr Fed’s here.

DR FEDORENKO:

Hello, nice to see you!

Michael’s time in isolation is due to end today.

DR FEDORENKO (3BM / 4.03):

Say ahhh..

Dr Fedorenko keeps a close eye out for any sign that his immune system isn’t recovering as fast as it should.

DR FEDORENKO (3BM / 4.29):

OK, today

you can go in the lobby to visit your friends.

MICHAEL:

Good.

AMOS (7C / 47.31):

Is he a good patient?

DR FEDORENKO (3BM / 5.40):

The best patient.

- The best patient!

MICHAEL (3BM / 5.21):

And like, how was my blood today?

DR FEDORENKO (5.26):

Your blood was great.

DOCTOR WITH REPORTS (3BM / 6.23):

19, 3.1, 92.

MICHAEL:

Excellent. (6.27)

Just two days ago, Michael’s immune system bottomed out and he needed a blood transfusion.

If it hadn’t bounced back, it wouldn’t have been safe to travel.

DR FEDRENKO (3BM / 6.34):

But all done.

- Fantastic.

DR F:

And you can leave safely on Thursday.

MICHAEL:

Thank you doctor.

In just three more days, Michael will be heading home.

MICHAEL (3BM / 6.45):

See ya.  So good!

DR COMES BACK IN TO WAVE GOODBYE TO ME

From London, he’s got a ticket booked to Perth, and then on to Brisbane.

AMOS (3BM / 18.18):

The fact that you reckon you can be home by next weekend is amazing.

MICHAEL:

It’s amazing yeah. It really is amazing. I'm lucky that I've got the financial capacity to get myself there. This is not a cheap exercise.

In fact the flight to London is costing Michael $20,000.

AMOS (24.00):

Awesome. Well nice to see you again and nice to see you smiling, Michael.  Take care.

MUSIC

TITLE:

BRISBANE

Back home, Michael’s wife, Rachel, has been trying to move heaven and earth to get him safely home.

RACHEL WITH JORDAN ON PHONE TO MICHAEL

She’s organised the charter flight and special permission for Michael to bypass quarantine in Perth.

RACHEL ON PHONE TO MICHAEL (1B / 23.46):

You look really good.

MICHAEL:

Thanks.

RACHEL:

You really do, you look like you’re ready to rock and roll.

MICHAEL:

Thanks

RACHEL:

I can’t wait, not long now! (23.56)

MICHAEL ON PHONE TO RACHEL (1B / 24.42):

You guys have done an amazing job 

RACHEL:

Yeah. You know what, you’d do the same for me.

MICHAEL:

Maybe.

Rachel laughs

RACHEL:

I love you. I absolutely love you, and you know what, like I said to you, I’d go to the end of the earth for you.  It’s alright, hold it together, we’ll talk about this later. Just mission, mission impossible.  So keep going and we can cry at the end OK. I love you, stay strong. Bye

(25.34)  Sighs and turns to camera  (25.38) It’s hard. Sometimes it’s really hard just to stay really strong. He’ll be home soon.

MUSIC

TITLE:

MOSCOW

UPSOT NURSES

MICHAEL AND DR FEDORENKO MEETING (39R / 1.40):

Now you’re MS free, no MS, but damage is still here. It’s important to understand because recovery process takes time.

MICHAEL VIDEO DIARY (40R / 00.00):

OK, just had my exit interview with Dr Fedorenko.  Went really well.

DR FEDORENKO MEETING (39R / 14.41):

Done.  Give me hug, and before you leave I visit you to give you hug again. And all your family (waves at camera).  All the best, so enjoy new life.

MICHAEL VIDEO DIARY (40R / 00.52):

Treatment done, private jet booked for the morning.  Ready to go.  I have, not glamorous, but a bag of nappies to support me on the way home, if that’s something I think I need.

(9) MICHAEL’S LONG JOURNEY HOME

ADD BREAK HERE

MUSIC

TITLE:

9 APRIL

NURSE WALKS UP TO JASON’S ROOM:

OK.

At least Michael’s not alone – he’s traveling to Perth with Jason Toohey, another Australian patient of Dr Fedorenko’s.

JASON LEAVING (42R / 00.33):

See ya later.

MICHAEL: Bye, thank you!

JASON: See ya next time.

MICHAEL: No!

POV driving to airport (43R)

MUSIC

The focus until now has been on finding a way out of Russia.

MICHAEL ON SHUTTLE BUS (45R):

Smile, Jason.  Give us a “see ya later, Moscow.”

JASON WAVING:

See ya later.

- Oh, thank goodness.

POV boarding private jet (47R / 00.09)

But Michael’s wife, Rachael, knows that there’s nothing remotely “safe” about traveling during a pandemic with a suppressed immune system. 

RACHEL (1R / 39.41):

London is the epicenter right now of Covid-19 there. Having said that though, it's better than him being stuck in a hotel in Russia. I say that, but I'm not going to be able to rest easy until that flight goes ahead. Cause I still doubt it and I don't want to, I don't want to doubt it. I really don't. But you still can't help but think everything else has gone balls up, you know, so what's going to happen next?  And I just pray. I pray.  I'm not a religious person, but I pray and I can't show Mick that I'm scared. That's been the hardest part. I need him to recover.

POV plane takes off (51R)

MUSIC

The first leg goes without a hitch.

Next is a commercial flight from London to Doha.

MICHAEL FILMING (53R / 00.00):

So, entering Heathrow.  It’s pretty well deserted – which is good.

MUSIC

MICHAEL PTC ON PLANE (55R):

OK so we’re on the plane from Heathrow to Doha.  They’ve been good enough to separate us (panning around) somewhat from other people. 

Still prefer to be further away so, see what’s available once we’re up in the air but for now I’ll just stay masked up and goggled up. 

MUSIC

In Doha it’s onto flight number three – headed for Perth.

MICHAEL PTC NEXT LEG (61R):

For what it’s worth, this is the flight from Doha to Perth.  I think there are legitimately 10 people on this entire aeroplane.

Panning around empty cabin from above

MUSIC

But there’s been another setback – the flight to Brisbane has been cancelled.

Michael can only get home if he hires another private jet  - at a cost of $30,000.

POV flying over WA (63R)

POV Perth in distance (64R)

MICHAEL PTC (60R):

OK, so we’re coming into Perth airport.  Thank goodness.  It’s been a long trip.  Nice to be back on Australian soil.  I now have a private jet because there’s no domestic flights to Brisbane anymore.

(00.39) Had a bit of a scare on the way home, my temperature kept spiking, my immediate thought is it was a fever or sepsis or something fairly nasty, but after reaching out to Anastasia it turns out for some people it’s just a side effect of the chemo

(1.03) and all you do is pop a couple of paracetamol and it goes away.

MICHAEL ON PRIVATE JET (65R / 00.11): So we’re on the private jet back to Brisbane. (laughs)

SUPER:

RACHAEL JONES

Michael’s wife

AMOS (1R / 48.58):

It feels like you've really had a front row seat in terms of how the world has changed over the past week or two and changed so quickly. Like this is the stuff we're all watching on the news each night as countries shut their borders as quarantine arrangements are put in place

RACHEL (1R / 49.30):

I'll be honest, there was times there that I thought was not going to happen. This is impossible. You know, the more borders were put up, the more restrictions were put in place. And I know it's for the health and safety of the world. I don't disagree with it, but at the same time, I just want him to get through. And you know what? I'll appreciate him and the world that little bit more because this is just horrific. It's, we're all living in nightmare as it is. But then to next level, and I know there's other people stuck. There's other Australians stuck in other countries. I'm aware of that, but not everyone has had HSCT and got stuck in the middle of it.

74R lights of Queensland in the distance

MUSIC

MICHAEL PTC AFTER LANDING (75R):

Just landed in Archerfield.  So happy!

Pan to POV taxiing in dark and then back

That’s the end of that adventure.  Time to go home.

FADE TO BLACK

AD BREAK 2

(10) BACK IN MELBOURNE, HOW IS NICK?

TITLE:

MELBOURNE

19 APRIL

GREEK TRADITIONAL MUSIC (9C / 38.19)

A month after they were supposed to travel to Russia, I catch up with Nick and Nektaria again.

NEKTARIA (9C / 44.16):

Would you like to try some flaouna?

It’s Easter Sunday for all the Greek Orthodox families who live around here, and everyone’s trying to celebrate together while keeping their distance.

NEKTARIA (9C / 1.22.05):

We're going to attempt a traditional Greek dance but iso style. So one and a half metres apart from each other. Is that okay?  Alright. How do we do this?

DANCE MUSIC (9C / 1.23.06)

Surprisingly, there was a silver lining to the pandemic for the Dimos family.

NICK (9C / 30.46):

This whole coronavirus, I think it's forced us to actually slow down and just… I don’t know, enjoy time with the kid and enjoy family time.

(31.00) So all in all, actually it's been good. It's been really good to slow down.

AMOS:

Do you think that's good for the MS?

NICK (31.07):

Yeah. No stress. I mean I'm not working at the moment so you don't have the everyday stresses of life and work.

With borders closed indefinitely, it could be a long time before Nick can travel to Russia.

NICK (9C (1.28.49):

It's a difficult one at the moment. As much as it's nice to slow down, when you put it into perspective, if this thing takes another year, who knows what's going to happen with our finances and everything else?

AMOS (1.29.24):  And your MS!

NICK:  And the MS. That's the most difficult component. You don't know what tomorrow brings. I'm okay right now. I feel good. Apart from being fatigued, I'm okay. But you just don't know what tomorrow brings.

GREEK MUSIC UPSOT

Nick and Nektaria have heard about Michael’s ordeal getting back from Russia, but they take very different lessons from his experience.

NICK (1.46.17):

See I look at that case though and I think 'he is so lucky.' He is so lucky that he got in, he did the treatment and he's got a very high chance of actually getting his life back now.  As painful as it was going through the journey,

I wish I was in that case. That we'd flown over to Russia a week or two beforehand. I would happily go through that pain knowing that it's going to stop my MS. Then waiting around for another year or two not knowing what tomorrow brings.

NEKTARIA:

I don't agree with Nick and we always butt heads with this conversation because if we had gone to Russia and come back in this pandemic or you know, it would have been so scary.  You know, coming back with barely no immune system and you know, having this virus lingering around us, would've been so scary. You know, it's life threatening. That's what's life threatening.  I wouldn't have been able to cope. There's no way.

END MUSIC

They wish that these dilemmas didn’t exist…

That people like Nick and Michael could access stem cell transplants without taking unnecessary risks.

NICK INTERVIEW (6C / 1.19.04):

Give people an option to actually get their lives back. There is no cure at yet and I wish one day there will be for MS patients, but right now the best course of treatment is HSCT. So Australia really needs to pull their finger out and give that option to Aussies. Don't force us abroad.

MUSIC

UPSOT EGG CRACKING

Stuck in Melbourne for now, Nick’s thinking about trying another MS drug in the hope of getting into a clinical trial if it doesn’t work.

UPSOT VIDEO OF MICHAEL WITH JORDAN / RACHEL

Michael’s recovering well, but it will be months, if not years, before he knows that the treatment was successful.

UPSOT VIDEO OF MICHAEL WITH JORDAN / RACHEL

The whole experience cost him more than $140,000.

CREDITS

NEXT WEEK ON DATELINE WE LOOK AT HOW FARMERS ARE COPING UNDER COVID 19 AND EXPLORE WHY SOME COUNTRIES ARE MORE FOOD SECURE THAN OTHERS.

AND UP NEXT...THE FEED