By James Beale Photos Gary Sissons
The notion that “things happen to other people and not ourselves” can be hard to shake. Many of us likely hold the belief that serious health crises are the domain of others. It can’t happen to me. Right? I’m healthy, I take care of myself. This sense of invulnerability doesn’t allow us to ever conceive that we could, at a moment’s notice, fall terribly ill and have our life turned upside down.
Yet, out of blind chance, we do get sick. We do have our lives changed irrevocably. Where do we look to after believing the fallacy of unchanging good health? Our individual struggles conjure individual answers, but for Zack Condick, a diagnosis of terminal cancer proved a stark reminder that illness and misfortune do not discriminate based on one’s perceived health or lifestyle.
Before the onset of cancer, Zack had been dealing with an autoimmune disease called ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis that causes a fusing of large joints in the body. During the footy season in 2014, he began to notice a pain in his legs, “I had lumps on my knee after one footy game… my whole leg swelled like it was stung by a thousand bees.” As the pain increased over the coming weeks, Zack began to realise there was something very out of place as his body began to swell, “My toes were like sausages.” Eventually, the then 21-year-old had his girlfriend, Tessa Moncrieff, helping him deal with the pain day-to-day, “I was screaming at night. She had to rub my feet just to get me to sleep.” It came to a point where Zack couldn’t walk properly due to the pain. Yet, despite the late nights and constant pain in his legs, the couple endured this disease for the next six years.
During this time, Zack delved into naturopathy and integrated different medicines into his life to investigate different treatment possibilities. As his immune system attacked itself, Zack found ways to treat the disease. Traditional medicine had him drawing fluid from his knees and feet whilst also taking cortisol injections which, “worked for two days and then the pain came back.”
This one cell would change Zack’s life irrevocably.
Naturopathy offered a path to treatment through fecal transplants. In the process, Zack’s gut bacterium was wiped for weeks on end. Yet, whilst his gut microbiota was ravaged, Zack found that the pain was subsiding. Walking pain-free was back on the cards. Doctors eventually put Zack on a trial for a HUMIRA injection in 2019. The six month trial suppressed his immune system, dropping it so low that eventually one cell slipped past. This one cell would change Zack’s life irrevocably.
Eight months after the trial, Zack was diagnosed with chondroblastic osteosarcoma in his tibia. Compounded with the tribulations of handling his autoimmune disease, there was a disbelief upon hearing of the further decline in his health. “When I was first told I had cancer, it was a bit of a numbness. I couldn’t believe it. It felt like my heart stopped.”
Treatment this time would come with less certainties: “I never, ever wanted to do chemo. But the doctors told me after they did the puncture of the biopsy, that this is the rarest sarcoma: ‘You got lucky. Not many people make it.’ So when you hear those things. Yeah, it’s pretty heavy.”
So, what are the odds? Zack was given a 20% chance to live after a course of chemotherapy as well as four different 15 hour surgeries. He later described the experience of these surgeries: “You don’t know if you’re coming out of them… When you think too deep into it, you’re open for so long… you got to just try and focus and just let go”
It was here at this diagnosis that Zack’s mortality revealed itself. Put yourself in those shoes at the age of 25, how would you react? The years of experience managing his autoimmune disease left Zack with a belief, “that the autoimmune disease set me up for this.” Whilst it had undoubtedly weakened his body’s defences, it did prepare him for a new level of medical adversity. He describes his autoimmune struggle as a preparatory phase for the cancer diagnosis that would follow. “It’s like the five or six years of battling that autoimmune thing prepared me for what I was about to go through.”
Having become accustomed to the unconventional, he was more open to exploring alternative treatments alongside conventional medical approaches. His autoimmune disease had already taught him the importance of managing his health through a holistic lens, paving the way for his future explorations into naturopathy and integrative medicine. Zack undertook a water fasting cleanse and used Chinese herbs to prepare his body for biopsies, demonstrating his commitment to an integrative approach to health. “I’ve been using Chinese herbs for prevention and bone healing. I also have an oxygen bone machine that mimics bone vibrations. I’ve thrown everything at it,” he notes.
Despite his efforts to manage his condition through natural methods, Zack had to confront traditional medical interventions. The challenge was balancing this with his desire for alternative remedies, which he kept private to avoid disrupting medical protocols.
The surgeries came around. First, 25cm of cancerous tibia was removed and replaced with a donor bone and metal. After waking up from the this operation to find himself in a hospital room, he met a man named Paul, another cancer patient who had his leg amputated. The sight of the amputated leg, combined with the chaos of hospital equipment and the backdrop of COVID restrictions, drove home the reality of Zack’s situation. “It was like being in a war zone,” Zack says. “Seeing all the blood bags and medical equipment made me feel sick, not because of him, but because of the situation we were both in.”
Despite the grim circumstances, Zack and his roommate, formed a close bond. “We were both trying to get through something. With no visitors allowed except for my mum, who supported me, and Paul’s family being in Tasmania, we lent on each other for support,” Zack explains. They spent their time watching fishing shows and discussing their hopes of recovery, dreaming of a future where they both overcame their battles with cancer. “We talked about what we were going to do when we beat cancer and could walk again. He was planning to get married, and I was looking forward to being a dad,” Zack remembers.
Tragically, Paul’s journey ended just months before Zack’s son, Hunter, was born. “Paul passed away a couple months before Hunter was born. It hit me hard, he just wanted to go home to his dog. He fought so hard, and then it was taken away from him so quickly,” Zack reflects. His last messages from Paul, filled with encouragement and hope, continue to resonate deeply with him. “Paul sent me a text saying he’d never forget what my mother and I did for him. He urged me to continue to fight the cancer and be there for my son. It gives me goose bumps thinking about it now.” Paul’s death impacted Zack in a way he had not yet encountered since his diagnosis. Finally, confronted by the harsh realities of cancer, there was a stark contrast to the hope they had clung to during their time together.
Despite the setbacks from the past decade, Zack Condick now stands cancer free as of 28th August this year. The surgeries on his leg mean that he may still need to have it amputated in the future, but what won’t be torn from him is an undefeatable mind-set. The thought of potentially using a prosthetic limb is daunting, but he says that he’s “come to terms with it now,” and made his peace. “Whatever happens, I want to be there for my son,” and with the tools of coping mentally with the past decade, Zack can offer tools to Hunter that not many will ever be able to truly understand.
This unconquerable resolve to move forward has helped him channel his energy into new pursuits, including disability work and para-rowing, where he wants to redefine his own limits and compete in the Paralympics one day. “I’m nearly finished with my disability course and want to continue helping people in that space.”
In August of this year. Zack published his book, You Can’t Beat Me: Defying The Odds, where he recounts his past decade of life. He hopes that his story will not just help people with illnesses but also those struggling to find their own individual inner resilience in times of hardship.
Zack Condick’s experience underscores a universal truth: the randomness of life’s trials means that anyone, regardless of how healthy or prepared they feel, can and will confront unexpected challenges. Severe adversity is not something reserved solely for others, and his story should teach us to re-evaluate our understanding alternative medicines, resilience in the face of setbacks, vulnerability and support, “Money is nothing, but time is. You’ve got to cherish the time with your family and friends because you don’t know when they’ll pass, or if something will happen to you,” Zack finishes.
zacksjourney.com.au