Don and his wife Marea sat down with A Current Affair host Tracey Grimshaw revealing to her and the country the incredibly difficult battle that have been fighting for over 15-years.
The year 2000 was the height of Don’s fame as Australia’s favourite gardener. The couple were running three very successful TV shows including Burke’s Backyard, Backyard Blitz and Renovation Rescue – but Marea noticed a problem with her eyesight.
“She had a background history of seizures that she’d had a number of years beforehand, but the problem that was more acute that brought it to my attention was the double vision,” neurologist Professor Michael Morgan said.
He went on to diagnose Don’s wife with Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM). It is an abnormal collection of blood vessels, like varicose veins, sitting on top of her brain – when untreated it can be fatal.
Don and Marea Burke sit down with Tracey to unveil their unrelenting health battles and how they fought it.
“The safest pathway in Marea’s case, in terms of saving her life, certainly would have been having the surgery – but it’s certainly not without its risks,” Professor Morgan said.
Don was in Hawaii filming when he received the call from his wife of nearly 50 years, notifying him of the gut-wrenching news and telling him she needed surgery immediately.
“This call absolutely stopped me in my tracks,” Don recalled to Tracey.
“It was absolutely a catastrophic phone call,” he added.
Marea underwent a nine-hour operation to remove the tumour but it changed their lives forever.
Don remembers how “totally unrecognisable” his wife was after her surgery.
She couldn’t stand up, she couldn’t walk, she spoke in slurred words,” Don said.
While Don described himself as the “show pony” in front of the camera, Marea ran their company, CTC Productions.
But after Marea’s surgical procedure, Don had to shift gears and take over her responsibilities while assuming the role of wife’s fulltime career.
During this time she had a minor stroke, and developed epilepsy from it.
The constant struggle between running the company and caring for his soulmate was a “huge struggle” for the TV personality.
Don and Marea in 2014.
In 2004 they were devastated when Burkes Backyard was cancelled, a show they nurtured for over 17 years.
“We were the idiots running the asylum. It was a very very difficult time for us,” Don explained.
Marea had just got her life on track after having faced such a huge health hurdle, but in 2013 they were rocked with more life-threatening illness.
She had an immediate mastectomy on her left breast, after discovering she had a grade two form of breast cancer, which Don said they got to very early.
“What are you going to do? It is what it is right,” she said bluntly.
before adding: “You’ve got no choice. You just do it. It’s a bummer and unfortunate that it happened.”
Thankfully after treatment, doctors have advised she is in remission.
As she chatted to Tracy, it was clear that the couple’s unwavering love for each other acted as a support for all of life’s hurdles.
Don couldn’t help but gush over how “pivotal” Marea has been in helping him accomplish his dreams.
“With all my crazy dreams, there is simply no way without her,” he smiled to the journalist.
Adding, “We’ve always been soulmates. But this definitely, from my side particularly, made me realise just how important Marea was to me and our relationship.”
Marea couldn’t agree more, “we just get on with things. I suppose we are closer in that I need him to be there in case I do fall down the steps because Don does a lot now, that perhaps he wouldn’t have.”
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