Carrie Bickmore broke down in tears during an episode of The Project this week, as she spoke to the surgeon who operated on her late husband Greg Lange about the difference he is making to so many people’s lives.
The 39-year-old TV presenter sat down for a video chat with Professor Andrew Kaye on Tuesday, who many years ago performed an awake craniotomy on her husband. However Greg sadly lost his battle with brain cancer and passed away in 2010.
In the decade since, Carrie has made it her mission to raise funds for brain cancer research through her charity Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer. And this week, in raising awareness for the cause, she spoke to Kaye, who she affectionately calls ‘Prof’.
The emotional chat brought tears to many people’s eyes, including Carrie, who struggled to contain her emotions as she discussed the work the surgeon did in an attempt to save Greg’s life. The mum-of-three also read out a letter that Greg wrote when he was first diagnosed with cancer.
Meet the incredible and renowned neurosurgeon who has sacrificed so much to give people a fighting chance at surviving brain cancer. Carrie sat down with the man who helped her husband through some of his darkest and scariest times. pic.twitter.com/E9dslrdw0w
— The Project (@theprojecttv) July 14, 2020
“Prof first looked at the brain scans, then began some light banter with me,” she read. “He had a deep obsession over the Hawks, and we enjoyed some verbal sparring over how much of a dud club they were. “[Then] The Prof said, all right, you’ve got a brain tumour and we need to get it out or you’ll die. I sat stunned for a minute, the transition from Hawthorn to an operation to avoid death seemed a little quick.”
Carrie continued with tears welling up in her eyes: “Surely some thinking music or polite conversation was needed. But, that was the Prof, blunt and to the point. And I don’t know whether it was the plastic brain on the table, the well lit tidy room, or banter on AFL, but I knew right then and there that this was the guy for me.”
The TV host tried to keep her emotions together, as she then asked Kaye if he remembered Greg, to which he replied: “I remember him vividly. I remember his extraordinary courage. I never cease to be amazed by the courage of the people that I treat. People say doctors have to have courage, they’ve got to be bold. [But] It’s not the doctors who have got the courage, it’s the patients.”
Carrie then took the opportunity to thank Kaye for all his help during those difficult moments. She said while she knew he hated to be put in the spotlight, he deserves to be recognised for all the lives he has saved, and the support given to families when people are given some of the hardest news.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever had the chance to say to you, to your face, thank you for everything you did for Greg, for me and for my family,” Carrie told Kaye. “We’re sad that you’ve retired, but thank you I guess for the gift you’ve given so many people over the years. I know you’re an incredibly humble man and you would hate all the praise, but you certainly deserve it and we’ll forever be grateful and I’m so glad that you were the one to walk with us side-by-side on that journey.”
To which Kaye responded: “That’s very kind of you to say that. I really, deeply appreciate your words, you need to understand that. I’m not a person who shows emotion easily.”
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