Anna’s Adventures
Imagine being a Doctor and having cancer. “Sydney-born Rhodes Scholar, Doctor, Medical Researcher and cancer patient, Anna Donald was a fearless explorer, eager to communicate her experience. While undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy and exploring complementary therapies, Anna used her formidable skills to offer rare insights from the other side of the doctor-patient divide.
In an intimate view of the final challenges in a life lived with great vigour, the video excerpts on the website are from a documentary film about this extraordinary Australian. When Anna was diagnosed as having metastatic breast cancer in February 2007 she continued her search for better understanding of sickness and health through what proved to be her terminal illness.
Comparing herself to “one of those 19th century Oxford scientists injecting themselves with mushrooms to see what would happen,” she explored different ways of responding to her illness. And she reported her findings in a series of 22 blog entries for the British Medical Journal, which for them became her Sistine Chapel.
Instead of reporting from a place that renders most mute in the dry and frankly boring reports that are the stuff of medical journals, she wrote straight from her heart, in pieces that are direct, funny, and beautifully written.
Anna was no desiccated scientist. Meeting her could be like walking into a red haired hurricane; few people who met her ever forgot her. She was relentless in pursuit of the truth but so full of humour and sympathy for others that she was loved as well as respected. Smartness, enthusiasm, sassiness, and words poured from her. Nobody ever out-talked Anna, and she inspired all she met.
Proud of her Australian, Scottish, and Chinese roots, Anna became president of the Union at Sydney University and then the second female Rhodes Scholar from Australia. After Oxford and Harvard, equipped with degrees in Medicine, Economics, and History she became a lecturer in Health Policy at University College London. She was a founding co-editor of the journal ‘Evidence Based Health Policy’ and published influential books on evidence based health care and getting research into practice. Earlier she had published ‘The Hands-on Guide for Junior Doctors’, which is in its third edition.
Anna’s Adventure the website was born out of the extraordinary response to ‘From the Other Side,’ Anna Donald’s Blog on the British Medical Journal (BMJ) website. Many readers of Anna’s BMJ blog were deeply moved and often inspired by her writings. Responses to her posts poured in from around the globe from people living with cancer, their carers, oncologists, other medical specialists, health professionals and academics.
When Anna met documentary filmmaker, Jessica Douglas-Henry, they explored ways of adding video to her writing to provide practical advice to people with advanced cancer and their families and carers. Anna also wanted to create a training resource based on her medical expertise and her own experiences with cancer for health professionals and students across a range of health and social science disciplines.
Most of the video clips on the website were recorded by Anna whilst she was undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy. Despite her low energy levels she continued to record her video diary and her commitment to this project never wavered. Only ten days before Anna went into hospital for the last time a recording was made where Anna discussed the design and content of the website with the production team. On 1 February 2009 Anna died surrounded by family and close friends.”
I would personally like to thank my dear friend Jen Buchan for telling me about Anna Donald and for introducing me to Jessica Douglas-Henry and her beautiful documentary. Thank you both so very much.
If you would like to buy a copy of the documentary: Email Prasan De Silva at desilva@irispictures.com.au or if you live in Australia: Iris Pictures l 213 Flourmill Studios l 3 Gladstone Street l Newtown NSW 2042 l Phone +612 9517 4306 l Fax +612 9565 4662
