4 ...proudly brought to you by Mazda. Tonight on Sunday, a mental health system in crisis. He'd always been sparkly to me. Harry was one of the brave ones, man. From the depths of depression, he reached out. He felt that's a place where he could be safe. But the hospital failed him. It mocks the work that I'm doing when I'm telling young people every day that help is available. Is this a system struggling to cope? Last year, you lost 579 people. Why don't you know what the suicide rate was last year? (SIGHS HEAVILY) He was a people person. He loved people and people definitely loved him back. He died in a vicious dairy attack. It was two little boys that took my father's life. Now his son's speaking out... It's gonna happen again. It's gonna happen tomorrow. ...as the violence soars. They can kill anyone. It's just how young they're getting and how brazen they're getting. (COUGHS) How a simple cough turned into this. CRIES: We could have lost her. People can't imagine how dependent they are on antibiotics. What to do about dangerous superbugs? I don't know what to call it. A super superbug? Captions by Anne Langford. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. 'It's OK to ask for help.' Rugby legend John Kirwan's words still resonate, but mental health workers say the system is now at breaking point. Our suicide rate is at an all-time high. Tonight, a story that Sunday has fought to tell for two years; the story of a bright young man failed by the system, and a message of hope from the family he left behind. Jehan Casinader reports. And a warning, his story contains confronting material. On Tuesday nights in a Christchurch school hall, there's a little bit of magic in the air. This was Harry's night. Harry was always dressed extremely well, always had his hair done better than what I do. He was a real gentleman! He was so light when he was dancing, as well. Becky and Jade remember Harry's fancy footwork. (LAUGHS) He would have been so proud of that! We were dance partners and he was the best dancer for his age in the country, hands down. While Harry's life was full of fun, there were also shadows he was desperately trying to escape. Harry was one of the brave ones, man. He went against everything that it is to be a staunch Kiwi male. He walked forward and said, 'I need help.' And the system let him down. One night, Harry's mum found him crying on the back doorstep. I hadn't seen that level of distress in him before. He couldn't verbalise it. He couldn't tell me what had happened. I could love him. I could hug him. I could be with him and talk to him, but I couldn't fix him. Maria later found a note Harry had written. It basically lists everything he was feeling. These are the words he couldn't give me on that night. READS: 'Can't concentrate. Never have any energy. I'm becoming more of a burden to Mum. 'I derive no pleasure from dancing or friends. I'm drinking too much. 'I'm a hopeless wreck. I don't like being so skinny. 'I get agitated and annoyed. There's nothing to look forward to.' What does that note tell you about where Harry was at? There was nothing light and airy and beautiful in his mind, and he'd always been that. He'd always been sparkly to me. Doctors had told Maria she couldn't have kids. Harry proved them wrong. They handed this little bundle to me, and he's just lying on my chest looking up at me, one eye open and one eye closed, and he was so cute. That was it. It was instant love. Harry grew up to be clever, charming and cheeky. He just didn't act like a typical young person. So here we are on New Brighton Beach in Christchurch. Welcome along. It's a gorgeous day today. His videos racked up thousands of views online. Anything he wanted to do, he was able to do really well. Then came an almighty disruption ` (PEOPLE SCREAM, YELL) the Christchurch quakes. Hey, it's Harry. Um, I'm about to get on my bike and come to your work. Harry never wanted his mum to worry about him. He sent her this message on the day of a big aftershock. Don't freak out. I'm OK! Um, it's 2.17 now and I'm leaving. Goodbye. The quakes had a lasting impact on Harry. They disrupted his schooling, and he decided to quit. At 17, he left home and got a job selling menswear. It's still got the coins in it that he had. Becoming an adult wasn't easy. He'd lost a couple of jobs. He couldn't pay his rent. His life had lost its structure. He wanted to be a grown-up, and then everything he'd done in that grown-up arena had failed. Harry went to the doctor and was put on antidepressants. I had never seen anything like the depression that hit Harry. It stole him. Maria says he felt like he was losing control. And this is what he was going to be like forever. Harry voluntarily admitted himself to Hillmorton Hospital, a mental health facility. He felt a level of relief because that's a place he felt he could be safe, and he didn't trust himself to keep himself safe at home. He tried to keep his mind occupied. This was a picture of a woman who was in hospital at the same time as Harry. He spent quite a lot of time with her, showing her how to draw, even when he was suffering enormously himself. It made him feel better to help people. But Harry was also feeling a sense of shame, and he wanted to keep his illness a secret. Harry tried to make light of it. It was a joke that he was in hospital. It was just nothing for anyone to worry about. I thought Harry was in the best place. He was being looked after and protected by the people who needed to protect him. To give him some encouragement, Maria bought a copy of John Kirwan's book on depression. READS: 'Beloved Harry. You are my living proof that even when I give up hope, miracles can happen. 'hold on to hope. Lots of love, prayers and best wishes, Mum.' She took it to him in hospital. He was sitting on the edge of the bed. I put one hand on either side of his head, kissed his head, said goodbye and walked away, and that was the last time I saw him. Maria went home and had dinner alone while watching X Factor. They'd had these country singers singing Coldplay's 'Fix You'. # When you try your best but you don't succeed. I was sitting there listening to it and thinking about Harry. ALL: # Lights will guide you home. He'd been talking about if my life was a movie, in the end credits that's the track that would play. # I will try to fix you. # Then the phone rang. It was a call from the hospital. Harry had been found in his room with no pulse. He was resuscitated and in a coma. It didn't really hit me. All I could see was Harry was asleep. (MACHINE BEEPS) I'd just sit there with him and go, 'You are loved, my beloved boy. 'You are loved, you are loved, you are loved.' But that love couldn't keep Harry alive. Three days later, Maria made a call no parent wants to make. She turned off his life support. I held him in my arms the moment he was born, and I held him in my arms the moment he died. The very best I could do for him was ensure he left on a cloud of love. He just... He just went... It was the first time I'd ever seen Harry still, and I didn't like saying goodbye to him when he didn't seem like Harry any more. Harry had alcohol in his system when he died, affecting his judgement. So the coroner was not convinced he intended to kill himself. But she says his death was self-inflicted. I've never thought he was selfish for doing it. I've never felt angry at him for doing it because I know it wasn't Harry. It was his illness that killed him. Harry left a big hole in Maria's life; a hole that quickly filled with tough questions. How can you have a child in a ward with a nurse, that can go to the elaborate plans that Harry did, and kill himself? She's seeking help from someone who understands her pain ` suicide educator Mike King. This is not a one-off. Every DHB has a Harry story. At least one Harry story. Some of them have five, six, seven, eight... It needs to get out there and it needs to be bigger than me. And Mike agrees. If this was happening in a factory or a workplace around the country, the person in charge would be up for manslaughter. After the break, how many more Harrys are there? The Ministry of Health fronts up. Why don't you know what the suicide rate was last year? (EXHALES HEAVILY) Plus, learning to live without Harry. Today is important. There's always going to be something in today that makes me smile. * As dusk falls on Sumner Beach, Harry McLean's friends and family are celebrating his 22nd birthday. But Harry isn't here to read these messages. Three years ago, he caused his own death after a short but fierce struggle with depression. I don't want to be here telling this story. I don't want to have to relive the fact that my son left me, but I need the facts of Harry's death to help someone else. Harry was diagnosed with 'narcissistic personality disorder'; a label that Maria says had a huge impact on him. The diagnosis just didn't make sense. He was googling narcissistic personality disorder to try and work out what was wrong with him. What they're actually saying is, this kid's an attention seeker. He's not really gonna take his own life. He just wants attention. The Coroner doesn't believe the diagnosis affected Harry's care, but his doctors knew he had contemplated suicide and attempted it twice before. He said to them, 'I'm still having a really bad period every evening, between 9 and 10 at night. 'Last night at that time, this is how I thought I could kill myself.' So he told the doctors that. He did, and they wrote it in their notes that he had formulated a plan the night before. What steps did they take to ensure that he didn't carry out that plan? They didn't take any steps. He knew they didn't really believe him. He was quite vocal about that, how they didn't believe him. That night, staff did not increase Harry's supervision or talk to him about how to stay safe. He was later found unresponsive in his room. Canterbury DHB conducted a review after Harry's death. It has apologised for shortcomings in his care. The DHB also says its diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder was 'incorrect'. They have now removed that from his records. For Harry and everyone else who comes forward and not get the help that they need, it mocks the work that I'm doing when I'm telling young people every day that help is available. The biggest mistake people make when they go see a counsellor... Mike King has spent nine years encouraging Kiwis to trust the mental health system, just like rugby legend Sir John Kirwan. Looking back when I first experienced depression... What I don't think the government realised was that there would be this overwhelming avalanche of people coming forward and asking for help, and the system couldn't cope. Last year, you lost 579 people. This is not under control. The government don't have a handle on the size of the problem, and worse, don't want to know about the size of the problem. We wanted to put that claim to the man in charge of mental health, Dr John Crawshaw. How many people committed suicide last year? The numbers vary from year to year, and I'm not going to get into a debate around the numbers. You're the director of mental health, and you don't know how many people in this country committed suicide last year? That's extraordinary. Sorry, but I look at the rates overall, and I do look at it on a year... annual basis. And one of the things which I do, is I look at all the Coroner's inquests. Why don't you know what the suicide rate was last year? (EXHALES) Sorry, I just haven't got the numbers in my head. Dr Crawshaw has been in this job for five years. In that time, our suicide rate has hit an all-time high. Around 40% of those who take their lives have accessed mental health services in the year before their deaths. One of the sad tragedies of someone having a severe mental disorder is that they will sometimes take their life. Still, the fact remains that three people every week die under your care. They're people who have sought help from your services, and they've been failed. No, I don't think that is the case, because I do know that in a number of cases people have been offered very good care. And when you're having to make really hard choices about how to balance that person's quality of life versus protecting them, you do have to make some judgement calls. Those calls are often made in tough conditions. Mental-health workers are reporting burnout, long working hours and a lack of support. Do you accept that some of these staff are under extraordinary stress and pressure? It's been a feature, unfortunately, of working in mental health for as long as I've worked in mental health. I know that the challenges that we face are the same challenges when I talk to my colleagues in Australia that they're facing. What's important is that we keep trying to make a difference and to improve the quality of services. That pledge comes too late for Harry McLean. I miss Harry's hugs. I miss his charisma and his charm. The stories that he used to tell me about the ladies. His friends want others to learn from his death. If you have a friend or a family member that you think is unwell, follow it up. Tell them how much you love them. A lot of people with depression feel that love just disappears, so really push that message. 40% of all kids in schools will have a suicidal thought. If we make it OK for year sevens to 13s to talk about problems and ask for help while the problems are small, then you're gonna free up services for those acute cases that really need the help. When Maria thinks of the night Harry died, she remembers the song she was listening to when the phone rang ` Coldplay's 'Fix You'. It turns out Harry was sharing that moment. He had the track on his phone. It was on repeat so while they were desperately trying to resuscitate him, it was just playing over and over and over. It's quite soothing to know that both of us were listening to the same piece of music just before he died. And music helps Maria to keep Harry's memory alive. She's the one who taught him to dance. (COLDPLAY'S 'FIX YOU') # When the tears come streaming down your face. I choose every day not to be consumed by my grief. It is a blessing for me that I have life and that I continue to walk forward. # ...and I will try to fix you. # Canterbury DHB says it has improved its processes after Harry's death, minimising risks in the wards and improving follow-up with patients. And in this week's budget, the government announced $200 million of new funding for mental health. If this story has raised issues for you, you can call this number or go to our Facebook page where we have more contacts for support organisations. Later, the new breed of superbugs resistant to antibiotics. Bacteria are pretty smart. They've been on the planet for 3.4 billion years ` billion years ` and they've learnt a lot of tricks. But up next, the alarming surge in dairy attacks. Are offenders getting away with it? There are some really organised groups, but there are others that don't have any plan and are making it up as they go along. It's actually shaming to be living in a country where this is OK. 4 Welcome back. It's often all over in less than a minute ` young, armed thugs tearing into small businesses, making off with cash and stolen goods, leaving behind a trail of victims and wreckage. It's called aggravated robbery, and the latest figures will alarm you. It's no wonder police are struggling to keep up. This week they announced a new task force to tackle the problem. Tonight, for the first time, you'll hear from a young man living with the devastating consequences of one such brief and brutal attack. Janet McIntyre with our report on a new breed of terrorist. You're about to see an aggravated robbery in real time; the kind of crime happening in small shops across New Zealand every single day. In and out in less than 20 seconds. Are you surprised no one's died in this recent spate? I'm hoping our luck holds out because it probably is only luck. But luck could not save this man, Arun Kumar, killed in his West Auckland dairy three years ago. Shivneel Kumar is speaking for his dad. I owe it to him. I think I owe that to at least try to make a difference into someone else's life. Shivneel and the entire Kumar family have not spoken publicly since the trial of two young offenders accused of killing Arun Kumar. But with this wave of violence sweeping the country, Shivneel has come forward to speak to Sunday. It's actually shaming to be living in a country where this is OK, which it should not be. It was three years ago, almost to the day, at the Railside Dairy in Henderson, Shivneel's mum and dad had just opened up. I definitely think about it every single day. Every single day it goes through my head. Shivneel, an aircraft engineer, got called to come to the dairy, but he wasn't sure why. I remember very vividly that morning rushing into the car, driving out, and as soon as I got to the lights, I could see the lights,... the flashing lights, and I still see that sometimes in my sleep. I definitely wasn't prepared for what I got told as soon as I got there. A guy just ushered Mum out the back door and just said my dad was no more. 57-year-old Fijian-born Arun, for 30 years a banker, had been loving his new career. He was a people person. He loved people and people definitely loved him back. Only for it all to end in the most tragic and unlikely circumstances. I found out after a couple of weeks that it was two little boys that took my father's life, and that was, if anything, the most sickening, saddest thing about this, I guess, was the fact that he loved kids and they ended up taking his life. But, yeah, that was the truth of it. The nasty truth. It is shocking to us that kids so young would be involved or possibly involved. One year later, security footage of the boys aged 12 and 13, was played over and over in the High Court when they went on trial for killing Arun Kumar. Their lawyers argued they were both mentally disabled, they were affected by drugs, from dysfunctional families, and had no intent to murder. This was something he never wanted to have happen, and he certainly never wanted any harm to happen to Mr Kumar. They were made to seem as if they were just little boys that stumbled across a knife and walked into a shop, and my dad fell into the knife, and which was the most unreal, the most false thing I've heard because we could see with our eyes what the naked truth was. The allegation was that the older boy was acting in self-defence... Correct. ...in stabbing your father. Yes. The younger boy was cleared. The older one was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. No comfort to the Kumars. We waited a whole year, 12 months, to get justice, and then we got that after suffering through a month of just constantly watching our loved one getting stabbed. I just didn't understand how that was justice. That was ridiculous. The justice system had more disappointment in store for the Kumars as you'll hear later. But even the six-year sentence imposed appears to have had no deterrent to others. Reports of aggravated robbery have increased 25% in the past year. Some offenders are caught, but most, like this slick young crew who robbed the Avondale Food Market last month, are not. The most recent police statistics show six months after aggravated robberies are reported, less than 30% have gone to court. In 65% of cases, no arrests have been made, which means offenders are on the loose. The thing that's concerning me particularly is just how young they're getting and how brazen they're getting. Inspector Dave Glossop, area commander of Counties-Manukau, the biggest and busiest policing district in the country. How young? Down to as young as 10, 11 years old, and I think it's been a real shame to see that with some of those 10-, 11-, 12-year-old kids, is they are already so far down the track, it's really hard to turn that ship around. And there's another new trend. We used to have` For years and years, you would see an escalation in people's behaviour. They would start off by truancy and then they go on. And then it's shoplifting and then breaking into cars, and just evolves. Now they start with the top-shelf stuff. These are serious crimes. We're talking about 14-year penalty, you know, imprisonment crimes. That should be a deterrent alone. But for some reason, the message is not getting through. But these are just kids. They're not going to go to prison for 14 years, are they? No, but they're still committing serious crime which is on their record. Aggravated robberies are not just increasing, they're becoming more violent. At the Kingsford Superette in South Auckland just over a week ago, offenders were armed with machetes. What did you make of that footage when you looked it? I don't know what to say. It was just unbelievable. I couldn't believe what happened here. Kamaljit Singh's family has owned the superette for 30 years. This is like home. He no longer manages it, but he still knows all the customers. You're a King's College boy, eh? Yeah. How are ya? It's a nice area. We don't get much trouble. Except last week, just on closing time, when a worker had his back to the door. These four guys, big guys, came in, within seconds, and just knocked him down. They had machetes, two of them, really big ones. They put a knife on his neck. He was just waving the machete everywhere. He hit the chocolates. He chopped all the chocolates. He was scaring the girl on the counter. All for a handful of cash and... just four packs of smokes, and only to be arrested in the following days. There are some really organised groups, but then, clearly, there are other groups who don't have any plan, and they're just making it up as they go along. And I can't even say which is the most dangerous, to be honest, because the unorganised perpetrator is often the one that will panic and use violence. Knives are the most common weapon being used. You know, some sort of cutting instrument. It's a huge concern. Many dairy owners we spoke to, including the owner of this one, told us they're now taking steps to protect themselves. So you've got a cricket bat now? Yeah, I have a cricket bat. I have to keep that one. I have to keep safe. I have to look after myself. Shop owners are arming themselves. What do you say to that? Look, I'm really clear on that point. It is an absolutely slippery slope. All we would end up doing if we go down that path is creating an arms race, and then before you know it, we're living in America. If people start arming themselves, people are just gonna die. Police say shop owners are better armed with information. Hello. Hello. In a targeted campaign, they've offered practical advice to more than 1000 small-shop owners in the past month. It's very important to keep an eye outside at what's happening. But that hasn't stopped this crime wave, fuelled, say police, by a demand for cash to buy cannabis, cigarettes to funnel into a black market and gang notoriety. I can't deny the fact that it is being told to the police that they have committed robberies as part of an initiation. There's just no fear. There's no second thought behind any criminal or potential criminal walking in the street today that would go, 'Oh, maybe I shouldn't do this.' Shivneel, the son of slain dairy owner Arun Kumar, is calling for the community to step up. I think what we need to do is definitely stop these kids coming through the cracks when they're the age of 5, when they're trying to throw stones at a car or just bunking school, and tagging or behaviours that trigger a trend into violence and aggressive behaviour. What would you say is the single most important factor that's driving this behaviour? Bad parenting. If I was to say what is the main thing out there, and that's not even the right word, it's unequipped parenting. People will know who it is that are committing these crimes and they need to intervene early. It's not just the police to be the mop-up afterwards. We are not going to arrest our way out of this problem. The Kumars have been dealt another blow. The boy sentenced to six years for the manslaughter of Arun Kumar last year had his sentenced reduced on appeal. Then a few weeks ago, this. We had an officer come in and inform us about how the boy was released, and that was surprising because it was nowhere near six years. If anything, it was barely two years. And I believe he's living a couple of streets down from us, and I could bump into him in the mall somewhere. Were you given a chance to oppose parole? Never given the chance. No. We were never given the chance to oppose anything, so it was almost done behind our backs. It just felt that we were victims again. In releasing him after two years, what message does that send to other potential offenders? It just seems like a win-win situation. You may walk out with a wad full of money or you get two years in prison for even trying. There's nothing to lose, really. For the person who is lost in life, he has absolutely nothing to lose. The parole board says the Kumars were not told the offender was going to be released as they weren't on the police victim notification register. The boy, who is now 16, has permanent name suppression. So what do you think? How do we get on top of this problem? Head to our Facebook page. Coming up, do you know how to protect your family against drug-resistant bacteria? We go inside the top-secret military facility where scientists are desperately trying to beat a frightening superbug. Inside this tiny vial is the gene that can create the mother of all superbugs. When it was first discovered here in the United States, alarm bells were ringing. Why? Because the antibiotic of absolute last resort won't kill it. 5 Welcome back. It might sound like a science-fiction film ` a killer superbug threatening to wipe out mankind. But this is no movie. It's real. Scientists have discovered a new bacteria that appears unstoppable. It's not only indestructible, it's also very smart and can turn a benign infection into something deadly. PJ Madam visits a high-security military base where this new superbug is kept. It's a frightening place. We've been given rare access to this high-security US military research facility just outside Washington DC. Inside, under heavy guard, the world's most devastating, contagions and superbugs and the latest and potentially greatest threat of all is in a freezer stored at minus -26 degrees. It's called MCR-1, and if unleashed, it has the potential to kill millions. Inside this tiny vial is the gene that can create the mother of all superbugs. When it was first discovered here in the United States, alarm bells were ringing. Why? Because the antibiotic of absolute last resort won't kill it. We're going to have something... I don't know what to call it. A super superbug. Untreatable superbug. We're going to have pan-resistant bacteria. And this is absolutely for real? It's not an alarmist talking here? This is absolutely for real. Yeah. A frightening insight into the speed and ferocity of these deadly contagions was experienced by the Marshall family. Gosh, she looks terribly sick there. At that moment, it was touch and go? Yep. A holiday to Thailand almost cost the life of Brendan and Sharna's 18-month-old daughter, Amarli, when she caught a mysterious infection. (GIGGLES, COUGHS) It all started with a cough, but little Amarli soon found herself in a hospital in Phuket with bacterial pneumonia. Doctors gave her antibiotics, but this extremely virulent infection was moving too fast. The next morning, the doctor came in and he said, 'Things don't look good. We're really concerned.' We said, 'Can she die?' And he goes, 'Yes. Very real. She can very much die.' Critically ill, Amarli was airlifted to Bangkok with the flesh-eating bug, streptococcus necrotising pneumonia. They're flesh-eating bugs. Flesh-eating bugs are something you see in the movies. The bacteria caused kidney failure and attacked her lungs. The antibiotics just weren't working and doctors had no choice but to remove part of one lung to save her. (SOBS) Sorry. Just... Yeah. It hits home a bit now that we could have lost her. Yeah. Yeah. We could have come home from this beautiful holiday, you know, without her. (GIGGLES) (LAUGHS) Oh, you're silly girls, aren't ya? And we would have lost her. We wouldn't have brought her home with us. Keeping up with the new breed of drug-resistant superbugs has become a nightmare for Australian health authorities, like Professor John Turnidge. It's occurred in a patient in hospital. You had a wound infection. Bacteria are pretty smart. They've been on the planet for 3.4 billion years ` billion years ` and they've learnt a lot of tricks. They've learnt how to exchange information, and if they say, 'Oh, you've got something really good 'that makes you resistant, can I borrow that?' Some bacteria have worked out how to do all that. We're expecting to see around about 500 of these a year. Professor Turnidge heads the National Surveillance Unit that tracks outbreaks of superbugs in Australia. We see some of these, what I like to call super superbugs, which are the ones that are resistant to our last line of antibiotics or almost resistant to our last-line antibiotics. The frightening thing about these superbugs is that they can be anywhere, and they are highly infectious. Cyclist Kerryn Harvey lost her arm, shoulder and very nearly her life to a devastating superbug. She was on a cycling holiday in South Australia three years ago when she came off her bike. I came down quite heavily. Ended up needing an ambulance. My elbow was smashed up a little bit, but not broken, but I needed stitches. Within 48 hours, Kerryn was in excruciating pain, and her arm was unrecognisable. It was almost like it was twice its size, and I had these blisters growing down my arm and bursting, like, in front of my eyes. It was just horrifying, really, to look at. A flesh-eating superbug had invaded Kerryn's system and was spreading so rapidly through her body that urgent surgery was needed to save her life. And the only option was to take the whole arm off. There really wasn't much of it left. You were fighting for your life? I was within minutes of death's door, I think. Yeah. Kerryn spent three months in hospital before doctors were confident she had recovered enough from the superbug. Do you know how this bug got into your system? Most likely it came from the accident site where I fell on the ground. I could have fallen a metre either way and I may not have picked up this bacteria. There's a lot of unknowns about it still, which is a scary thing. As devastating as Kerryn's superbug infection was, she would have stood no chance against many of the contagions housed in this high-tech, high-security research lab. We have somewhere in the region of 45,000 bacteria in our repository right now. Chief of molecular research, Dr Patrick McGann, is on the front line of the fight to stop the spread of superbugs. It is one of the most serious threats to mankind, which it is. I mean, we're approaching an era now where bacteria become more and more resistant to the antibiotics that we have at the moment. And there is potentially no more serious threat than MCR-1. It was first reported in China in 2015. To the horror of scientists, it was found in a woman from Pennsylvania who had an E. coli infection. So, this is an overnight culture of our E. coli bacteria containing the MCR-1. It can go from just as little as one bacteria up to several billion in just 24 hours. We grow them at 37 degrees Celsius, which is the temperature it likes the most. That's human-body temperature. Correct. That's human-body temperature. So we are perfect for it. Perfect host for this bacteria. How MCR-1 works is truly scary. It covers the bacteria, even the most seemingly harmless, with a protective coating that stops antibiotics from killing it. Superbugs, when I think about drug-resistant bacteria, I think about when I put my hand on a handrail, when I push the buttons on the elevator, when I touch any surface, I'm thinking about, 'Who was there before me 'and what bacteria did they leave behind?' 'Did they wash their hands when they went to the bathroom? 'Where did they travel? And what kind of bacteria are they sharing with all of us?' I see a major global crisis here. I mean, the house is on fire and we're just sitting in it watching it burn down around us. What's most worrying for Australia are the 30 million antibiotic prescriptions issued here every year. The more we use antibiotics, the more opportunity there is for bacteria to adapt and outsmart them. We have to address this issue. People can't imagine how dependant they are on antibiotics. I mean, the procedures that we've become used to having, you know, like hip replacements, dental work, any kind of cancer treatment; these are all dependant on antibiotics. And we're losing this tool. Can you imagine everything that we're going to lose with that and all the lives? And so people want to get upset at me because I'm ringing the alarm bell? I mean, that's just ridiculous. Since her near-death encounter with the superbug, Kerryn Harvey has regained her health and has started a new career as a personal trainer. I had never heard of the superbugs before ` these different types of bacteria that can come in and invade your body. It's just unbelievable. It's incredibly scary. Come on in, sweetie. You can just play. And Amarli has finally recovered. Bad luck, you know. You get it. You could have got it here. You could have got it anywhere. But she'll forever bear the scars of her close encounter. Do you consider yourselves, your family, very lucky? Absolutely Extremely. Extremely. We got hit by a bullet but I think we dodged one at the same time. Just this week, scientists revealed MCR-1 has been detected in three patients in Australia but it has not spread widely. After the break, the remarkable story of Awa, the Wellington girl born as a boy. My mum was the first person I told about how I felt; that I felt so out of place and I was scared she wasn't gonna accept what I had to say. But she did and that's what helped me get through this. 4 Next week we'll be bringing you a special documentary on Awa. She's a young woman from Wellington who's openly transgender, transitioning from male to female. It's an extraordinary story of courage, compassion and family support. I've always thought I was a girl but people around me always tried to tell me I was a boy. And even my body tried to tell me. And what was on the outside never reflected what I felt on the inside. And now what's his name, Caroline? What's his name, Caroline? Oh, Te Aroha Rangi. Who's his father? Um... Just say the fella on your right. My full name is Te Aroha Rangi, but when I was little a lot of people could not say Te Aroha Rangi. ALL SING: # Happy birthday, dear Te Aroha Rangi... # So they called me CJ, which was a mix between Clive Junior and Caroline Joan, both my parents. When I started actually transitioning, my parents decided to actually call me Awa because it sounded a little bit more feminine. So, we'll be screening Awa's story next week. And that's our show for tonight. Do join us on Facebook and Twitter, Sunday TVNZ. And thanks for joining us this evening. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.