Tonight on Close Up ` The man who survived surgery in the middle of Christchurch's February quake. How would our border systems cope with the risk of a potential pandemic? And the next big family name in rugby ` the four brothers playing for one of our most successful teams. Due to the live nature of Close Up, captions for some items may be incomplete. ONE News captions by Hannah Reynolds and Toni Tippett. Close Up captions by Richard Edmunds and Angela Alice. Good evening. If you wonder what lead to Whitney Houston's tragic demise, we've found an extraordinary interview with her in the archive. That's later in the show. But first a story that seems almost too incredible to believe. It's about a patient caught mid-operation during the February quake. 'Yeah, yeah,' you're thinking, 'so what?' Well, the operation on Mark Cooper was on his brain, and at the very moment the quake hit, surgeons had mark's skull opened up. and at the very moment the quake hit, surgeons had Mark's skull opened up. How do you put that on hold? Whatever became of Mark Cooper? Well, you're about to find out. Matt McLean has his story. They were ready to do, you know, the most serious part of it, They were ready to do, you know, the most serious part of it, and, bang, four hours later, it happened ` the earthquake. The table was moving frantically backwards and forwards. Mark Cooper is known as 'that guy' ` that guy who was unconscious on an operating table, skull open, when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the Garden City. This story actually begins in December 2010. Friends had noticed Mark had begun speaking with a lisp and encouraged him to go see a doctor. The final test they did with me is ask me to poke my tongue out, and I did. And that's when they found that my tongue had collapsed. The tongue was the first sign that Mark had a brain tumour. Well, we were just in shock, but it just felt like disbelief. There's nothing physically` I felt fit and healthy. So the plan was to go through the right side of the ear. They told me the risk of doing that, because of all the nerves around that area. The surgery was expected to take 12 hours. Four hours in... The quake struck, and the initial is, 'Can you stand up?' The quake struck, and the initial is, 'Can you stand up?' And I was standing at the time and could only stand up by holding the diathermy machine and the microscope. We sort of stopped it rolling across the floor. The lights went out, and the quake went on, and then the emergency power came back in after 30 seconds. And the immediate decision then was, 'This is a major earthquake' ` we knew that ` and, 'Do we continue or not?' And before we could even think, another aftershock hit. The decision was made that the operation just couldn't continue. Got a nice little skin graft from here and just plonked it in there` A fat graft. > A fat graft and then just put the skin back over and just taped me back up. Hole plugged up, he was wheeled into recovery, woken up and was slowly fed news of his reality. I just said to the nurse, 'Just how bad was this earthquake?' And she said, 'Well, I'm sorry, but Christchurch CBD has just been flattened.' And my... I just felt a gut-wrench in my stomach, because I knew my wife and my parents were all in Christchurch. And equally terrifying for Julie, Mark's wife. What you saw was kind of the central business district, and they said it had basically been flattened, and of course it was just, you know, so close to the hospital that you thought, 'Uh-oh.' And you couldn't get through on phones or anything to ring, and so it was extremely stressful time. Mark was transferred to Nelson Hospital the day after the quake, but doctors were quickly on the phone to rearrange his surgery. Five weeks after the quake, he was told he'd have to head back to Christchurch to do it all over again. I don't feel like I'm abandoning Christchurch by running away and going off to another hospital. It's, like, I was there on the 22nd of Feb. I need to come back just to finish this operation off. EMOTIONALLY: So it was a bit more about closure for me as well... and to show my level of support. and to show my level of support. (SIGHS) It's been an emotional year, but the second surgery was deemed a success and he's on the mend. But it's been a long process. For months he couldn't talk, couldn't swallow. So from going from that where I couldn't hardly communicate to sitting down with you and having an interview` It's quite nice. He was quiet for a long time. > I couldn't even tell the kids off, cos I couldn't raise my voice. It's, like, 'Oh, OK, go.' (LAUGHS) Do you think you sound like you used to sound? No, definitely not. > I don't think I do. He laughs like a girl now. (LAUGHS) > And the experience has helped Mark focus. He's now a champion bowler. It's what's sort of kept me... Part of my recovery process. I found myself` When nobody was here, I'd make sure I'd sneak down here and I have a couple of practices by myself. So for a while there, the quake affected you in terms of...? I pretty much went into my shell after the quake. I'm normally quite an outgoing person, and due to being able to communicate effectively, I just went into my shell and probably I was getting a little depressed, I guess you could say, but I'm certainly not depressed now, and I'm very very looking forward to what's going to happen next in my journey of life. Come February 22nd this year, he'll be at the bowls club, celebrating and remembering in his own special way. And while he's not completely in the clear yet, life, he says, is exciting. Can't wait to see what the future's going to bring for me. I've certainly been through a bit at the moment, so I think I'm up for a new challenge. And I'll be in Christchurch next week for the anniversary of February's earthquake. We'll be bringing you some truly amazing stories. If you've got a story you'd like to share with the programme, send us an email to closeup@tvnz.co.nz We'd love to hear from you. Coming up, are our border controls up to scratch when it comes to the risk of a dangerous outbreak? And we've had the Brookes and the Whettons; are the Whitelocks the next big name in NZ rugby? For a moment this morning, this country was poised on the precipice. The nation was alerted to a potential hostile airborne invasion from Japan. No, we're not revisiting ancient history. We're talking about bacteria, not battalions. An Air NZ flight from Tokyo with dozens of flu-affected passengers on board triggered a major alert. They've hosed down the risk factor now ` an overreaction, health authorities say ` but what if the threat was real? What if it was a dangerous or new strain? How susceptible are we? Michael Baker is Associate Professor in Public Health at Otago's Wellington campus. He joins me now. Professor Baker, is something we should be concerned about? Good evening. I think Health authorities did the right thing. You need to keep people there until you have investigated what has gone wrong. This is part of an ongoing pattern we have with the health on air travel. We have serious infectious diseases arriving on flights. We need a more systematic approach to managing risk. Are you saying airlines are too slack? Go back three years to see the start of our last pandemic ` 9 students. Our research showed that they infected at least two other passengers on that trip. Measles is coming in to New Zealand with infected travellers. Are we not taking it seriously? Look how seriously we take by a security ` screening at the airport and instant fines. Look how seriously we take the risk of terrorist acts. And this is perfectly reasonable. So why aren't we taking the same precautions to protect the health of New Zealanders? Are you saying that if some sort of infectious disease did get through, it could do real damage? We were lucky with how minor the last pandemic was. We need to protect New Zealanders from a major pandemic. We need a systematic approach. We are dealing with the world's best industry and managing risk ` airlines. I believe that we need to expect the same approach taken to health as security. We need precautions to stop infected people getting on to planes. By the time they arrived, it is too late. We need exit screening. We need them to be able to defer trips without losing the non-refundable tickets. Why would an airline let someone on board was obviously sick? They regularly do it. If someone is seriously ill ` vomiting, etc ` they won't be allowed to travel. But we are talking about more subtle symptoms ` cough, fever. Exit screening would make sure they don't have these illnesses. We have got time. This is not a simple change. It requires collaboration of of health authorities and airlines. NZ is an excellent position to lead the change. We are one of the only countries with the hope of keeping a pandemic out the days to weeks ` valuable time Thanks for your time. Whitney Houston in her own words. You've heard of the Going brothers, the Meads, the Brookes and the Whettons, but the Whitelocks have them all outnumbered. When Luke Whitelock pulled on his new Canterbury Crusaders rugby strip at the weekend, he joined older brothers George, Adam and Sam in the same team in the same game. Yep, four brothers now playing in our most successful Super Rugby team. So what were mum and dad feeding them on their Manawatu farm? Matt Chisholm investigates. ROCK MUSIC PA: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Crusaders! CHEERING It's good to play all together at one time. It's pretty cool ` like, everywhere you look, there's a familiar face. Hopefully we can do it more often now. Very proud. Extremely proud of the boys. It's unprecedented in the modern game. George is playing six, going down the side of the scrum, Samuel's at loose head lock, Luke's at eight and Adam's at 12. That's all four Whitelock brothers now donning the red and black of the Canterbury Crusaders, easily our most successful Super Rugby team. But this modest family's not getting too carried away with their success. 'Course we're stoked and everything, but keeping our feet on the ground too. Yeah, I guess, when we get older and a bit longer in the tooth, we'll look back on it as a pretty special day. I reckon it's great. Doing their province proud? > Yes, I think so. Which province ` Manawatu or Canterbury? > Well, I don't know! (LAUGHS) They went to Feilding High. (LAUGHS) So, have the Crusaders management got some sort of bulk deal where they got the four of you at a discount rate? Oh, I'm not too sure. But we've all, kind of, ended up at the Crusaders through different ways. This warm-up match against the Hurricanes in Mangatainoka just the second time all four boys have lined up for the same team ` the first was back at school. The boarders day boy game at Feilding High School. Back in 2004, eh? Yes. Yep. And Sam's not too happy with this shot? He thought he looked a bit like a beanpole. (LAUGHS) He's certainly filled out, hasn't he? He's filled out since then. The three older boys ` George, Adam and World Cup-winning All Black Sam ` have been together at the franchise for the past two seasons. This year they're joined by little brother Luke, who captained NZ to victory in last year's Junior World Cup. He actually reminds me a bit of Kieran Read when he's playing. I have to look twice. 'Oh, yeah, that's Luke. That's my baby out there.' What is the secret to breeding great rugby players? Oh, it's just luck involved, I think. Caroline will claim that a lot of the breeding comes from the mare. It's always plenty of competition going on, no matter what's going, you know. If it's out first to run around a 10-K block or whatever it is, it's always a competition. ROCK MUSIC < Did you put creatine in the milk, or...? Oh, no, there's none of that sort of stuff. We're good, wholesome dairy farmers. The boys were brought up on this Manawatu dairy farm. They're the product of very good stock ` both parents had rugby in the blood. This is my dad. He was an All Black in 1953-54. And my uncle ` mum's brother ` Alan Elsom, he was in the same team. And, um this one is Braeden here. Here he is for the NZ Colts team, 1979. He's got a moustache and a bit more hair. (LAUGHS) < I'm thinking, then, that perhaps this could have been an arranged marriage < put together by the NZ Rugby Football Union? Definitely wasn't arranged. No, I was just working in North Canterbury at the time. Played rugby with Caroline's brother and met Caroline, and we got more friendly. The rest, as they say, is history. Braeden and Caroline have been following the boys around ever since. They've always been our greatest supporters. Dad coached us through school and always encouraged us, They've always been our greatest supporters. Dad coached us through school and always encouraged us, but never pushed us. Like, they were never really pushy parents. I used to really enjoy going along when they were little, because they were so innocent and they played barefoot in the frost, and they were just gorgeous. It's a shame they have to grow up. (LAUGHS) There's rumours going around that you had to send these boys off to boarding school cos they were costing too much to feed. Any truth to that? That certainly was one of the reasons. (CHUCKLES) But I enjoy cooking for them. They were always very good eaters. They'd never leave anything on their plates. Those appetites definitely aren't waning. Samuel, you're not allowed that fat. You're not allowed to film this, or I'll get in trouble with my nutritionist. Spend just a small amount of time with these boys and you soon realise just how well they get on. We always joke a bit about how long we were breastfed for. Us older three, we were a little bit younger, and Luke was 12 months, so he beat us by six good months. So it's probably why he loves food a bit more than everyone else. He got nicknamed the man-child for it by all his mates at school. Mum had to stop breastfeeding him because he had to catch the school bus, so... LAUGHTER They're living their childhood dreams ` dreams made even more special because they're playing together, making it a lot easier for mum and dad. Trying to get round to see us all play was a big thing for them, and... Yeah, now it's obviously a bit easier, all playing in the one team. Hopefully we're giving them a bit of, you know, something to look forward to every week, with footy and playing well. Whitney Houston's death over the weekend shocked the music world and shocked music lovers. Remember, she had more number-one hits in the US than The Beatles. Her passing was sudden, but her struggle with addiction had taken over her life for years. She professed determination to overcome the demons, and that was never clearer than in this revealing interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer back in 2002. I grant you I party, but there have been times when I know I've been going through a lot of emotional stress and my eating habits were awful. READS: Whitney dying. Crack rehab fails. First of all, let's get one thing straight: crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight, OK? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is whack. Is it alcohol? Is it marijuana? Is it cocaine? Is it pills? It has been, at times. < All? At times. How scared did you get? Um,... scared. When they said I had died, I did, I changed my mind. I changed my mind. Yep, because I didn't want to look like the rest of them. I didn't want to be like them. They frightened me. Do you think you came close? I think as close as anybody. I think I can get. I know folks who have come closer. But that's as close as I want to be. How sure are you that those bad days you talked bout are behind you? I know that I am... I'm on the right path, because I'm back home where I started ` in here. I can't tell you it's all going to be perfect, Diane` No, because everybody says it's day by day by day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But now do you say 'not at all' or do you say, 'I can`'? I'm not going to tell you that. I could tell you that... (SIGHS) I am not self-destructive. I'm not a person who wants to die. I'm a person who has life and wants to live. Of course, the music world paid tribute at today's Grammy awards to the fallen star. So do we. That's NZ Close Up. # If... # If I # should # stay, # I would only # be in # your way. # So I'll # go, # but I # know # that I'll think of you # every step of # the way. # And I, # ooh, I # will always # love you. # I # will always # love you. # Whitney, we love... # we love you. # APPLAUSE, CHEERING Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012