This week 60 Minutes looks at a medical miracle, sugar and an Aussie advertising guru taking on the world.
lk Again
When Dan Nicholls dove into the surf at Bondi Beach, he had no idea his swim would change medical history. You see, Dan hit a sandbank, and became a quadriplegic. Doctors told him he’d spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, with no use of his legs, and limited function of his arms and hands. They didn’t count on Dan’s dad, David. He made a promise to his son – to walk again. Over the next 12 years he raised millions of dollars for research and gave it to an eccentric British neuroscientist with the instructions to fix his son’s spinal chord. Up until now, a cure for paralysis has been deemed impossible. This Sunday on 60 Minutes, Dan and David will reveal the amazing results of their global quest, and you’ll see a world first – a once severed spinal chord, repaired completely, and a man once confined to a wheelchair – walking again.
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Stephen Rice
Secret Sugar
It is the dietary villain of our time, a bittersweet ingredient lurking in our food. We have always known that too much sugar is bad for us, but the sweet stuff has been usually the preserve of soft drinks and chocolates. Not anymore. The amount of hidden sugar in our foods has grown to the point, where the average Australian is consuming between 30 and 40 teaspoons of sugar every day. What’s more startling is that many of the foods marketed as healthy are in fact chock-full of sugar. This Sunday 60 Minutes takes you inside the food laboratories where big food companies are spending millions of dollars searching for the “bliss point” in their food – the perfect ratio of sugar to get you hooked on just about anything.
Reporter: Leila McKinnon
Producer: Garry McNab
Just Ad Droga
You’ve probably never heard of David Droga but his reach and influence is vast. He’s the knockabout advertising guru who has taken on the world and won, making him one of the most powerful Australians on the planet. He’s the boy from Snowy River who’s now the toast of New York working behind the scenes for Beyonce, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and Bill Gates. Not only does Droga use his wit and creative zeal to sell stuff, he is hard at work changing the world for the better, one advertising campaign at a time. And this Sunday on 60 Minutes, Michael Usher discovers what is most surprising about this billion-dollar ad man, is his astonishing recipe for success.
Reporter: Michael Usher
Producer: Jo Townsend
8 pm Sunday on Nine