FLINDERS resident Adam Regal has featured in a national television commercial for Motor Neuron Disease Week.
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The television and radio advertisement came about when Bernice Atlee, who has motor neuron disease, decided to start a campaign and approached producer Mark Brightwell, of Zodiac Media Productions, and others who formed a committee at Macquarie University.
"Bernice wanted to make a difference and create some noise," Mr Brightwell said. "She wanted to create a piece of media that would obviously catch an audience and educate people on motor neuron disease."
Some of that was achieved with the Ice Bucket Challenge which raised funds for research.
But Mr Brightwell said despite the success of the viral campaign many people still did not know about the disease.
He said the reality was once people were diagnosed they generally only had two to three few years to live because there was no known effective treatment or cure.
That is why Ms Atlee contacted Mr Brightwell and about half a dozen others, who started meeting at Macquarie University about six months ago to discuss ideas and plan the campaign. That led to other people giving up their time and expertise for the cause.
The television and radio campaign began on May 1 to raise awareness about what motor neuron disease is and to help find an effective treatment.
Mr Brightwell said the hardest thing was going into the research institute at Macquarie University, which has some of the most phenomenal scientists and researchers in the world, and see it often limited by funding.
"It kind of breaks your heart when you hear them say that to do a particular test it may cost $1 million, and that may not even give them the answer they are looking for, but that test could be the determining factor for an effective treatment or cure for the disease," he said.
Mr Brightwell said to see their passion limited financially was difficult because it meant it would take longer to find a cure.
He said it was great to have so much support for the commercial including news anchorman Peter Overton agreeing to do the narration.
"He has been heavily involved in motor neuron disease as an ambassador himself," he said."We have all come together to create something really powerful and professional."
Mr Brightwell describes the face of the campaign - Mr Regal, who has motor neuron disease - as an inspiration.
"Adam deserves all the help he and the other MND sufferers around Australia and the world can get," he said.
The television commercial follows his story and that of his family, including wife and two children, from before diagnosis when he was a hands-on dad playing with his kids, to his present state where he is in a wheelchair.
It will also look at what happens at the end of his present journey.
"We wanted to make this as real and authentic as we possibly could," Mr Brightwell said.
"This shows in a powerful way the effect it has on a family. In this case quite a young family. The harsh reality is in two to three years' time Adam may not be with us unless we do find an effective treatment."
Mr Regal has already done a lot of work raising money and awareness.
"We are all really grateful that Adam and his family were happy to do this," Mr Brightwell said.
"This will be really hard for him and his family to watch on TV. This is a serious campaign that is delivering something real and authentic."