Carrie Bickmore breaks down in tears during The Project
Carrie Bickmore was overcome with emotion on Tuesday night's episode of The Project after fellow panelist Kate Langbroek opened up about her own family's experience with childhood cancer.
The show had just aired a story about three-year-old Manoli Plueckhahn, a young boy battling an aggressive cancer that only affects 1 in 100,000 Australian children. The Plueckhahn family are now trying to raise money to get 'Old' the treatment he needs, which is not available in Australia.
Bickmore appeared momentarily speechless when the story finished. “You will do anything for your kids, won’t you?” she said. “Often limited by money. The more we can bring these treatments to Australia so these families aren’t having to go overseas to do this …”
Langbroek then opened up about her own family, revealing her son Lewis, now 17, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009.
He finally beat the illness after what Langrboek has previously called a “gruelling, terrible, frightening and painful three-and-a-half years.”
“Childhood cancers are particularly difficult. My son was diagnosed with leukemia – you remember, Carrie,” she said, as Bickmore took her hand.
“I remember when we were first in hospital, and I saw the other little bald children, all I saw was the baldness. And then after we had spent time there and my own son was bald, I learnt to see the child and once you see the child, you will do anything to help the child. It’s very powerful,” Langbroek said.
Bickmore turned to address the camera – but broke down in sobs, apologising as co-host Waleed Aly intervened to finish the segment and sent them to an ad break.
Cancer research and awareness is a cause very close to Bickmore’s heart: Her first husband Greg Lange died in 2010 after a decade-long battle with brain cancer.