’I WAS ALMOST DEAD ... JUST LOOK AT ME NOW’
GOLD Coast father Peter Bradley could barely walk 10 months ago and was having so much trouble swallowing or breathing it scared him.
For the formerly active surfer and charter boat operator dealing with multiple sclerosis for 19 years, the disease had accelerated to a debilitating degree by mid-last year to leave him a shadow of himself.
But now he has been given a new lease of life thanks to a first round of treatment at a private clinic in Mexico which he says combined chemotherapy and stem-cell transplants.
The $40,000 treatment late last year, which he funded personally and through a GoFundMe page as a desperate last resort, has enabled him to walk, talk and breathe without fear.
At home yesterday in Burleigh Waters with his son Caylem, 5, and daughter Sienna, 8, Mr Bradley said since the September treatment he was now doing things previously unthinkable, like taking his son fishing. “That is a massive thing, it puts the smile on his face.
“I live for my kids and the first thing he said when he saw me when I came back was ‘Daddy, you’re better – can we go fishing?’.”
Mr Bradley, 46, used to need a walking stick to get around but can do without it and is now able to use a knife and fork, which he found impossible pre-treatment.
“My speech is much better too but my brain, that’s still not functioning quite as it used too.
“But before treatment I was almost dead. I was battling just to breathe. Now I don’t have to think about breathing.”
He still has his struggles but the progress has been marked – whereas before he struggled to walk 100 metres, he can now manage more than double that. Driving is far easier.
“I still get tired and fatigue easily but things are a lot rosier,” he said.
Mr Bradley’s fight is not over. He is focused most immediately on building up his core strength and fundraising to return to Mexico for a second round of treatment.
He needs about $23,000 and said so far he has $950.
“They all but kill you over there. They basically totally reboot your immune system. The second treatment is necessary for me.”
Mr Bradley said he had been advised he needed to have the follow-up round within 12 to 18 months of the first lot.