For the past 20 years, if you’ve seen an action film shot in Australia then chances are you’ve seen Nigel Harbach; only you wouldn’t have known it. Nigel is a professional stuntman appearing in such films such as the Matrix series, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Wolverine.
For the past 15 years, Nigel has also lived with leukaemia, enduring over 300 blood transfusions, two bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy and of course, the emotional rollercoaster for him and his family that goes along with this challenging journey.
Being the man of action that he is though, Nigel didn’t let his condition get the better of him. Instead, he created Seize the Day Charity to provide ground level support to people dealing with leukaemia and other blood related diseases and their families.
Seize the Day Charity has now teamed up with Australian Geographic and Australian photographer Andrew Gregory to bring to one of our hospitals a collection of Australian landscape photographs to brighten up the lives of patients in palliative care.
Seize the Day Charity ambassador and four times world boxing champion Danny Green helped launch the project earlier this week at Liverpool Hospital.
It all started back in 2014 when James Nguyen’s father spent the last two weeks of his life in Ward 4C of Liverpool Hospital.
A nurse in Ward 4C had heard of James’ earlier project in conjunction with Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre for the Chemotherapy Centre at Liverpool Hospital and asked him to do something similar.
For this project, James was inspired by the idea of Australian landscape photography to provide a visual escape for patients in palliative care.
James met Lauren Smith, Education Editor from Australian Geographic, through his cousin Natalie Ho, another member of the project team who helped put together the proposal.
Lauren secured the necessary approvals then put together a large collection of images from Australian photographer Andrew Gregory.
Next, James pulled Karl Page, Director of Verve Printing on board the project team.
Through his expertise, Karl provided a print solution for the project which allows the photographs to be easily rotated.
Karl sits on Seize the Day Charity’s board and through this connection introduced the charity and the project; enter Nigel Harbach.
It’s no secret that funding for public hospitals is under pressure.
In order for the project to not be a financial burden on Liverpool Hospital, Seize the Day Charity provided the funds to make it a reality.
Patients in Ward 4C will now have their rooms brightened up with beautiful Australian landscape photographs, thus making their environment less clinical.
As part of the visual art for healing movement, the project will supplement the tremendous care being provided by the staff at Liverpool Hospital.
To support Seize the Day Charity to continue its help for people experiencing leukaemia and other blood related diseases, please donate to this great cause.
To donate visit the website here.
