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TRANSCRIPT: Kerri-Anne opens up about husband's fall

SN TRANSCRIPT: Kerri-Anne opens up about husband's fall

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MIKE WILLESEE: I'm on my way to visit some special friends.

KERRI-ANNE: (GASPS) Ah! Digger to the door.

KERRI-ANNE: Hello, Mike.

MIKE WILLESEE: Hello.

KERRI-ANNE: Have you met Digger? (LAUGHS)

MIKE WILLESEE: I have now. Hi.

KERRI-ANNE: Good to see you. Welcome.

MIKE WILLESEE: Hey, I brought some flowers just in case you need a little cheering up.

KERRI-ANNE: I think I do, and they're very beautiful. Thank you very much.

MIKE WILLESEE: Kerri-Anne is putting on a very brave face, and you're about to see why.

(HEART MONITOR BEEPS)

MIKE WILLESEE: How is it affecting you?

KERRI-ANNE: Oh, it's just horrible.

MIKE WILLESEE: But how, Kerri-Anne?

KERRI-ANNE: Oh, I just...I just... I sort of wake up every day thinking, "Oh, what a shocking nightmare that was," and it's not. It unfortunately is not a nightmare. It is life.

MIKE WILLESEE: So when you wake up in the morning and you're confronting another day...

KERRI-ANNE: Oh, I... Truth be known, I actually don't want to get out of bed.

MIKE WILLESEE: Today, like every day for the last few weeks, Kerri-Anne makes this trip to see her husband, John, in hospital.

KERRI-ANNE: As... (SIGHS) ..as exhausting as it is going to the hospital and spending hours and hours and hours there every single day, I get really antsy and very excited when I get near going in there, 'cause I really look forward to seeing him.

MIKE WILLESEE: He's in the intensive care unit and he is very lucky to be alive.

KERRI-ANNE: And it is really comforting to know he's still there. And it was touch and go that he was gonna be there.

MIKE WILLESEE: It was five weeks ago today John lost his footing and fell headfirst into the ground. It was a freak accident.

KERRI-ANNE: ICU - a place that you really don't want to get used to, Mike.

MIKE WILLESEE: No. It's, um...

KERRI-ANNE: Big turnover.

MIKE WILLESEE: It's a wake-up call to walk through ICU, isn't it?

KERRI-ANNE: It is.

KERRI-ANNE: Hello, honey bunny! (KISSES) And look who I brought - Mike. I get kisses first.

MIKE WILLESEE: I'm good, thank you, John.

KERRI-ANNE: You look good!

MIKE WILLESEE: Mmm. "I love you." That's nice.

KERRI-ANNE: He's trapped in his mind, he's trapped in his body. He can't speak. He can't touch me. All I can do is ever so gently hold his head and kiss him.

MIKE WILLESEE: This is a story about John and Kerri-Anne Kennerley and their incredible life together. It's a love story.

MIKE WILLESEE: Let's talk about John. People see him...as the... typical English gentleman. But underneath that... ..you know, 'tea and scones in the afternoon' exterior...

KERRI-ANNE: Mmm.

MIKE WILLESEE:..what's there?

KERRI-ANNE: I think he IS the typical English gentleman. He DOES have five o'clock tea and cake. But there's this, you know, little aspect to his personality that is a bit of speed demon. Huge sense of humour. LOVES a chat. He thinks I like to chat. I know he chats a lot more than I do. Um...and, you know, loves to have a glass of wine and loves to have fun.

MIKE WILLESEE: If you have seen the social pages, the Logies, just about any red-carpet event in the last 30 years, then you will recognise these two - the unmistakable Kerri-Anne and, as always, John is right by her side.

KERRI-ANNE: And it was a good double act. He loved it just as much as I do. It's nothing other than a great opportunity to go and meet a bunch of sometimes new people, see a bunch of old people, have a look at something new that's going on.

MIKE WILLESEE: Oh, and fun.

KERRI-ANNE: And fun. OK, I'll cop to the fun.

MIKE WILLESEE: You are very good at that.

KERRI-ANNE: Yeah, yep.

MIKE WILLESEE: On the social circuit...

KERRI-ANNE: Not just good. I excelled. And so did John.

(BOTH LAUGH)

(NEW YORK, NEW YORK PLAYS)

MIKE WILLESEE: John and Kerri-Anne met in New York City.

MIKE WILLESEE: At 18, you decided to try your luck as a singer in New York. You picked the toughest city in the world.

KERRI-ANNE: Mmm.

MIKE WILLESEE: Why?

KERRI-ANNE: Just 'cause. (LAUGHS) I heard the song, "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere."

  1. I'm leaving today... #


MIKE WILLESEE: Kerri-Anne was chasing her dream of stardom working as a cabaret singer, and John was an ambitious young businessman.

KERRI-ANNE: I knew him as a friend before we ever dated.

MIKE WILLESEE: So, what happens when you're mates for 18 months and then suddenly, "Um, excuse me, listen..."

KERRI-ANNE: Yeah.

MIKE WILLESEE: What did he actually say?

KERRI-ANNE: Uh, we went to a café and, uh...and just... I think he kissed me once. And I remember the song that was playing on the... It was one of those peanuts-on-the-floor-type bars, and it was You Needed Me, the old Anne Murray song.

ANNE MURRAY:

  1. And I can't believe it's you


  1. I can't believe it's true... #


MIKE WILLESEE: They were married at the Sydney Opera House.

KERRI-ANNE: First wedding there, and then we had a party.

MIKE WILLESEE: I'll bet you did!

KERRI-ANNE: (LAUGHS) Yep!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE,
'THE PAUL HOGAN SHOW' THEME PLAYS)

MIKE WILLESEE: A year later, Kerri-Anne had a prime spot on morning television.

  1. Ain't nothing but a hound dog # Cryin' all the time... #


MIKE WILLESEE: For their first wedding anniversary, Kerri-Anne had a surprise in store for John.

KERRI-ANNE: # I celebrate the day that I said "I do"... #

KERRI-ANNE: I wrote a song, and... Which really isn't a particularly good song, but I did write it for John. And broadcast to the nation. That was 31 years ago.

MIKE WILLESEE: How do you think he would describe you?

KERRI-ANNE: He said I always made him laugh. And smile. And made him happy. So I think I achieved that.

MIKE WILLESEE: Kerri-Anne has had a lot to laugh about over the years.

JOHN: She sent me out to get an iPad so she could record the steps and come back and practise to it... (LAUGHS) ..in the bedroom!

MIKE WILLESEE: But life has taken a turn that could not have been more unexpected or more serious.

MIKE WILLESEE: Tell me about the accident.

KERRI-ANNE: Uh, we'd played golf. John had actually come round in another cart and watched me play golf, 'cause I'd qualified for the day. I was a bit happy about that. We didn't even get off the course till about 6:15. Uh, they had presentations for an hour or so. It was mostly a girls'... well, it was a girls' tournament. And we were just sitting on a veranda talking to a couple of the women there. Terrific. Having fun. "Can we have a photograph?" We all step up. John goes to step out of the shot, and I've gone, "No, no, no, no. Please come in." Lost his balance and fell backwards. Spearheaded the ground. And as soon as I went round... went round a few steps down, and he was then on his side. "Nobody move him." So, all he could say is, "I can't feel anything. I can't feel anything." And we were then waiting for the ambulance. I just sat at his head and I just kept telling him everything was going to be OK, and I could almost see his fingers that he's lying on...um... ..turning blue, but nobody wanted to roll him.

MIKE WILLESEE: So at this stage you know it's not just a fall?

KERRI-ANNE: Nup. This is just not a bit of a "Ouch. I'm getting up again." I'm going, "This is serious."

MIKE WILLESEE: The ambulance arrived in 20 minutes. John was rushed to Coffs Harbour Hospital.

KERRI-ANNE: The doctor then shows me on the X-ray, you know, what he's done, and we go back in, and then he's really, REALLY struggling to breathe. And he said, "We have to put him in a coma. "We do this all the time, but... "..you know, why don't you just go and have a few words to him?" Basically, "We do it all the time, we're pretty good at it, "but it doesn't always work, "so...say goodbye," is what he said. "I'd hate you not to have had some words." That's what he said. "I'd hate you not to have had some words with him."

MIKE WILLESEE: So you're in the situation where you're told you'd better say what might be goodbye to your husband. What was going through your head?

KERRI-ANNE: You...it's... You're basically saying, you know, "This can't happen." I'm in denial - I'm going, "Nah. This is not gonna happen. "It can't. It cannot be happening. "It is just, like, this shocking dream."

MIKE WILLESEE: The air ambulance left Coffs Harbour and arrived in Sydney at 6:15 the next morning. At 4:00 that afternoon, John went in for surgery.

KERRI-ANNE: As a surgery, it was first-class. Best-case scenario. And he came out of it well.

MIKE WILLESEE: What was the message you were left with after that meeting?

KERRI-ANNE: "It's gonna be a year."

MIKE WILLESEE: A year for what?

KERRI-ANNE: "It'll be a year before you know what he'll be left with."

PART 2

KERRI-ANNE: Hello, honey bunny! (KISSES) How are you, darling? And look who I brought - Mike.

KERRI-ANNE: I give kisses first.

MIKE WILLESEE: I'm good, thank you, John.

KERRI-ANNE: (WHISPERS) Hello, darling. Mmm, I love you, I love you, I love you. You good?

MIKE WILLESEE: Mmm! "I love you." That's nice.

KERRI-ANNE: John is an amazingly strong person and he's given me a lot of strength. We are strong together. And that is the key, and I don't think one could do without the other.

KERRI-ANNE: Have a seat, Mike. I brought the newspapers. Um, I brought some more DVDs. Um... What else? I got your electric toothbrush. I charged it up as well. So, I got lots of everything.

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Good.

KERRI-ANNE: Oh, good. Actually, I can't see him. I can't read his lips. Oh, no, you...you sit down.

MIKE WILLESEE: No, no, it's OK.

KERRI-ANNE: It's alright.

JOHN: Sur...geon.

KERRI-ANNE: The...?

JOHN: Surgeon.

KERRI-ANNE: Surgeon. Surgeon. Uh, in...? And... Oh, Dr Andrew came in.

JOHN: Came in last night.

KERRI-ANNE: Last night. OK.

JOHN: And he said

KERRI-ANNE: And he said what?

JOHN: He said I’m making excellent progress

KERRI-ANNE: Oh, making excellent progress. Very good! He's happy?

JOHN: Yes.

KERRI-ANNE: Very good. With your legs, he's very...? Hands? He's very happy with your HANDS?

JOHN: That's good news.

KERRI-ANNE: That's great.

MIKE WILLESEE: John no longer has the use of his arms but he can feel Kerri-Anne's touch.

KERRI-ANNE: Even though he's got no feeling in his arms, he can feel skin if I'm touching him, and...it's a bit of that out-of-body experience. He kept saying, "Arms out of my body, arms out of my body." And I had that for two weeks until they said it's like the... ..the phantom people...phantom pain that some amputees feel. So he just thinks his arms are somewhere else as to where they are, and it's a really disconcerting feeling.

MIKE WILLESEE: It's the same for his legs, and for now, he cannot breathe for himself. John has been diagnosed with incomplete quadriplegia. Life can be cruel.

MIKE WILLESEE: So you're not looking at the prospect of a full recovery?

KERRI-ANNE: No. I doubt it. No.

MIKE WILLESEE: Does he know this?

KERRI-ANNE: He knows how tough it is. I'd love to be wrong, but I think it would be a miracle.

MIKE WILLESEE: Doctor, this is a scan taken, obviously, after the accident but before the surgery. What does it tell you?

DOCTOR: So, what you can see - this grey structure is the spinal cord and the white area within it is an area of bruising or swelling, and you can see the reason that's occurred is that there is a fracture, or a break, across here. So, this person's broken their neck, damaged their spinal cord, and the biggest concern, if you look at it, is the damage goes right up to probably the C2 level, so there's swelling and bruising in the spinal cord very high up.

MIKE WILLESEE: Doctor, for such a simple fall - less than one metre - what are the chances of this happening?

DOCTOR: It would be one in a million. It's a really unfortunate accident.

KERRI-ANNE: Whew. Wow. Sliding doors of life. Six degrees the other way, he could have broken his little finger.

MIKE WILLESEE: Because John has no airflow across his vocal cords, he's not able to speak. John can now move his lips, but only a few days ago, he could not even do that.

KERRI-ANNE: So, we hold up these and I just sort of go, top line, second line, third, and then, "Is it a vowel?" and I'd write it down. But sometimes I'd forget to write it down and then I'd have to go back to the beginning, and he gets annoyed. (CHUCKLES) But it's clever.

MIKE WILLESEE: What were the first words that you spelled out with the alphabet?

KERRI-ANNE: The first word when...Think. No! That...that's to me. "Think," to me.
That's... OK. No, the very first word - I remember what it was. You spelled out, and you could only blink it, was P, vowel, A... 'Paraplegic.'

MIKE WILLESEE: That's what you were thinking?

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Worried. I was worried.

KERRI-ANNE: You were worried.

MIKE WILLESEE: Yeah. You had reason to be worried.

KERRI-ANNE: Do you remember when we were... we'd finished the presentations? Prize giving.

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Went downstairs for dinner.

KERRI-ANNE: We went downstairs for dinner.

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Some ladies wanted a photo.

Then a couple of girls, a great group of girls, they just asked if, you know, we could do a photo, and we were on the veranda. And...and we sort of got up to do the photo, and you... ..you tried to step out of it and the girls said, "Come back in."

MIKE WILLESEE: Do you remember that?

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Sort of.

MIKE WILLESEE: Sort of?

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) That's about all I remember. That's it.

MIKE WILLESEE: Do you remember telling Kerri-Anne that you couldn't feel anything?

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Yes.

MIKE WILLESEE: You remember that?

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Then I think I passed out.

KERRI-ANNE: And then...then he passed out. But I remember... I remember you saying that.

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) I don’t remember anything until I woke up in this room

MIKE WILLESEE: Until you woke up where?

KERRI-ANNE: In this room.

MIKE WILLESEE: In THIS room? When you...came to in this room, do you remember what your first thought was?

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) I was very woozy.

KERRI-ANNE: Very woozy.

MIKE WILLESEE: I couldn't feel much.

KERRI-ANNE: You couldn't feel much.

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) That's when I thought I might be a paraplegic.

KERRI-ANNE: That's when he thought he might've been a paraplegic.

MIKE WILLESEE: Pretty frightening thought. Mmm.

KERRI-ANNE: But we're getting there.

KERRI-ANNE: My life...as we knew it... ..that...80% has gone. My life as I knew it is over. That was...that was history. This is now a new life. 'Cause he is my priority.....and getting him back home would just.....you know, that'll be the best thing since sliced bread. But that's in the... way in the future. But life as we knew it, just...being able to, you know, go for a walk with Digger in the park or, um...just sit down and watch TV, um...that... ..and just go out to parties - no, that's...it's gone, it's over.

MAN: Mike, would you like to say goodbye now?

MIKE WILLESEE: Yep.

MAN: Yeah? And then...

MIKE WILLESEE: That'll put a smile on his face.

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY) Piss off!

(ALL LAUGH)

MIKE WILLESEE: You can't say that on television. Can't say that on television.

MIKE WILLESEE: John may be trapped in his body but his mind is free to wander. He is as sharp as ever, and he is an inspiration.

MIKE WILLESEE: I'm gonna put a smile on your face and leave you. Give you some peace. But it's good to see you, and after what Kerri-Anne told me... ..about what you've been through in the last three and a half weeks, it really is good to see you. See you, mate.

JOHN: (VOICELESSLY He's a nice guy.

KERRI-ANNE: Yeah, he's a lovely guy. He really is.

PART 3

MIKE WILLESEE: Five days ago, I took a trip with my friend and colleague back to the place where her life was changed forever. It was one of the hardest interviews I've done, but it was also one of the most special.

MIKE WILLESEE: You know, one of the things about your situation with John now that strikes me is that it's a great love story. How many years?

KERRI-ANNE: Um, it is...it's 35 years. And there's rarely been times that we've been apart, because this is the man who I grew up with, virtually. This is the most exciting, interesting, fascinating, kind, loving person that I've ever known.

MIKE WILLESEE: You seem to be closer than most couples. I knew there was a companionship that was very strong, and I think it's reasonable to assume that that's something you take for granted...

KERRI-ANNE: Yep.

MIKE WILLESEE: ..over a long period. And then you have this catastrophic accident. You can't take it for granted anymore.

KERRI-ANNE: No, I think, um... I think right now, the most difficult thing, apart from
the gigantic question mark.....is not being able to talk to him. I read him the newspapers,
I ask him questions, and... Well, it's better than what it was. You know, I'd hold up alphabets and do all that and get answers, and now I can lip-read. But not being able to just talk to him, get him... ..drag out of him how he's feeling. Because men aren't always that good at telling you how they feel. But, you know, I'd horseshoe... ..you know,
really dig it out of him. But watching him be sad, it's like... ..it's like I'm inside my head,
screaming... ..that it's not real. But it is.

MIKE WILLESEE: How does he feel today? We're up here, Coffs Harbour, where the accident happened.

KERRI-ANNE: Mmm.

MIKE WILLESEE: The catastrophe happened.

MIKE WILLESEE: This is the first day you haven't been with him.

KERRI-ANNE: Yep. He... I know he'll be... he will be counting down till I walk back in
this afternoon and tonight.

MIKE WILLESEE: Yeah, he's trapped.

KERRI-ANNE: He's trapped.

He's trapped in his mind, he's trapped in his body. He can't speak. He can't touch me. All I can do is ever so gently hold his head and one shoulder - he's even torn a ligament
in one shoulder - and kiss him.

MIKE WILLESEE: He's not in good shape, is he?

KERRI-ANNE: No.

MIKE WILLESEE: I mean, all your friends are so concerned about him. Completely understandable.

MIKE WILLESEE: But how about you?

KERRI-ANNE: A whole chunk of me just doesn't exist anymore. There's just a whole big chunk that he used to fill. If I don't... ..when I'm with him, remain strong... ..it would be so much worse. 'Cause all he said to me last week, or the week before - he said...he had a terrible dream. He said, "I dreamt you got fed up of all this and left me."

MIKE WILLESEE: That's a horrible dream. For a man lying there, paralysed, to dream that his wife...

KERRI-ANNE: I said, "That's never gonna happen."

MIKE WILLESEE: You're his life.

KERRI-ANNE: And that's nice.

MIKE WILLESEE: Oh, God, I've got a tissue here somewhere, haven't I?

KERRI-ANNE: All those thousands and thousands of hours on national television...

KERRI-ANNE: It's always someone else.
It's not me.

MIKE WILLESEE: ..and now you don't care
about your make-up.

KERRI-ANNE: Couldn't give a toss.

(SNIFFLES) (LAUGHS)

KERRI-ANNE: But you know, Mike.....vanity and television my entire life... I don't care!

MIKE WILLESEE: You want it to come right down your cheeks.

KERRI-ANNE: (LAUGHS)

MIKE WILLESEE: You look like an Indian about to go to war.

KERRI-ANNE: And I am.

MIKE WILLESEE: You've got to go to war, don't you? It's a big fight.

KERRI-ANNE: Yep.

MIKE WILLESEE: Big battle.

KERRI-ANNE: Yeah, it's like a battle. But I want him back so bad. I want him to actually... ..be as happy and have the creativity that he's always loved and enjoyed.

MIKE WILLESEE: You've said you always need a project.

KERRI-ANNE: Yep.

MIKE WILLESEE: But you've now got a massive project, and that's John.

KERRI-ANNE: But it's one I don't have any control over. I can't fix it!

MIKE WILLESEE: Let's take a break. Have a sip, darling.

KERRI-ANNE: People don't see me angry too often, but my husband knows it's not pretty.

MIKE WILLESEE: (CHUCKLES) Nobody's seen you
with make-up like that either.

KERRI-ANNE: Yeah, that's right. (SNIFFS) Um... But when I get angry, I get things done. People don't see it. People very rarely see it. John's only seen it a few times and then he's scared. And I'll get angry enough to get a great result. WHATEVER it takes. Because he deserves it. Just got to figure it out.