‘I’m proud of his courageous battle’
Wife and friend pay tribute to cancer sufferer’s gutsy fight
Cancer survivor David Downs has paid tribute to his friend Kurt Brunton and vows to continue to help others beat the ferocious disease. Brunton lost his battle with cancer on Monday, his wife Janelle BruntonRennie announced on Instagram, leaving her “broken”.
“He’s gone,” she wrote in an Instagram post yesterday morning.
“On January 7th at 9.52pm just a few hours after lots of kisses and cuddles from Sage and with me and his mum and brother holding his beautiful, strong hands, Kurt slipped away.
“I can’t even begin to describe the depths of this ocean of pain and sadness . . . so proud of the courageous battle he fought.”
The 41-year-old had been receiving CAR-T treatment since September as part of a clinical trial in Boston, Massachusetts. He learned about it from David Downs, an Aucklander now in remission after taking part in the trial. Downs, 47, had been given a year to live when he was diagnosed two years ago.
The therapy takes immune cells — known as the T cells — out of the body, genetically engineers them into “killer cells” and inserts them back into the bloodstream. Downs, who became friends with Brunton and Janelle, visited Brunton in hospital when in Boston for a regular check. BruntonRennie then got in touch when they returned home on New Year’s Eve.
“She let me know a week or so ago that they had come back from Boston and I spoke to her a couple of days ago as well, so yeah. She’s been quite incredible and she’s had a really tough time.”
Downs said Brunton had fought hard: “After such a big battle I really thought he would make it because he had put all the effort in. He was an amazing guy with such strength and determination. The support people around him, his wife and his mother, has just been incredible to watch and witness and they will just be distraught . . . it’s just heartbreaking.”
Downs said he was dedicating a lot of his time to getting the therapy in New Zealand. He’d been working with the Malaghan Institute in Wellington which was doing the paperwork and permits to have it in the country within months.
Downs said while money was a huge barrier to most, being away from family was also hard.
“Kurt was away from his wife and child for months. He was over there with his mother because the baby’s so little she couldn’t travel.”
Downs put his house on the market, started a Givealittle page and borrowed.
“The cost is just astronomical. I was quoted $1 million and then travel costs on top of that.”
Downs said his survival was likely due to a combination of getting on the trial a bit earlier than Brunton and his cancer not being as aggressive.
“By the time Kurt got to getting on the programme it was already pretty far advanced . . . I got on it really fast and I think mine was slower growing. I had side effects but not nearly as bad as Kurt.”
I really thought he would make it . . . He was an amazing guy. David Downs (above)