- The tributes are pouring in tonight for the actor Patrick Swayze. He died at the age of 57. - Patrick Swayze was a legendary actor, dancer, and singer. His cult performances made him a global superstar. - It was just something about him. Everybody seemed to love Patrick. - By the late '80s, Patrick Swayze was a celebrated Hollywood heartthrob. - Patrick, without a shadow of a doubt, had an aura about him. You immediately just know you were in the presence of a movie star. - But the dancer and actor, best known for his roles in Dirty Dancing, Ghost, and Point Break, died almost unrecognisable at home in California on September 14, 2009. - It was just too difficult to see this incredibly courageous, powerful person disappearing in front of my eyes. - But behind the scenes, Patrick wasn't always the golden boy he was thought to be. - There were some issues with alcoholism. - And years after his death, the press reported wild rumours. - Various stories came out. There were horrible stories about possible abuse by Lisa of Patrick. - Patrick Swayze devoted his entire career to maintaining his body's peak physical condition. So how did this Hollywood star go from being incredibly fit and healthy in 2007 to dying just two years later? (dramatic music) - For nearly 20 years, acclaimed forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter has expertly conducted thousands of autopsies. As the Chief Medical Examiner in one of America's biggest cities, he works closely with law enforcement and other forensic specialists to investigate suspicious deaths. - I have here Patrick Swayze's medical documents, and these, along with first-hand testimonies, will allow me to investigate the reason for his death. - December 31, 2007, Aspen, Colorado. Less than two years before his death. Patrick Swayze has been in the Hollywood spotlight for nearly 20 years, and has had starring roles in over 30 movies. At 55, he's just landed the lead role of a 13-part TV series. - Patrick Swayze was a star. When he walked in a room, you knew you were in the presence of one of the biggest stars in the world. - He's also been married to his wife Lisa for over 30 years. - Everyone thought it was one of the most solid, one of the most wonderful marriages. - They were the true version of what people fell in love with in Ghost. - Hey everybody, happy new year! - Happy new year! - Happy new year! - But at a New Year's Eve party with friends Patrick suddenly feels unwell. He finds the champagne is burning his insides. Patrick has also been suffering from constipation and stomach cramps for the last few days. He takes some indigestion tablets to ease the pain and tries to enjoy the rest of the party. Not wanting to trouble Lisa with his ailments, he ignores the pain and avoids drinking any more champagne. - Abdominal pain, indigestion and constipation can be caused by a number of factors, though it's typically associated with mild gastrointestinal problems. But when the pain is acute, it requires immediate medical attention because it has the potential to be something extremely serious. - Patrick Wayne Swayze was born on August 18th, 1952 in Houston, Texas. Patrick and his four siblings were raised by their parents, Patsy and Jesse Swayze. - Patrick's father was a cowboy and the part that Patrick played as a person was who his father was, who was a strong, resilient, no-bullshit man who never gave up, and his mother was the same. She was a choreographer and she was tough. - His mother, director of the Houston Jazz Ballet Company, introduced her son to dance at an early age. In his autobiography, Patrick revealed the strict and unrelenting regime he was put under. - My mom, she had the energy of a dancer combined with the steely strength and determination of a pit-bull. Mom was an amazing teacher, but a demanding one, urging me to try harder, do more, be better. - Driven on by his mother, Patrick stuck to the demanding dance regime throughout his teenage years, something he was often teased for. - When I was 13 or 14, I got my face beat in by five guys behind the church and I was out of school for a while. And then once I healed, and was able to go back to school, my dad set it up with the principal and the head coach that I would get to fight each one of them. That taught me a big lesson at a very young age, that nobody will ever stop me again from making my dreams come true or doing what I believe in. - After he graduated high school, Patrick moved to New York to forge a career in dancing. He worked on Broadway and in low-budget films for many years. Finally, his dogged determination paid off, when at 35, he got his big break in Hollywood. - 1987, Dirty Dancing was the movie. It was a low-budget movie, no one expected it to do well. In fact, they thought it would be in the theatres for one week. This movie just went gangbusters. This was the movie that really said Patrick Swayze is a movie star. - The small film that cost only five million to make made $100 million. Patrick was suddenly hot property. He was an instant superstar, a bona fide heartthrob. - Patrick was tall and he was well built, and he was very much the epitome of that male lead. You could see why the women swooned over him. - Despite his abdominal cramps, I can see from reports that Patrick Swayze was in top physical condition two years prior to his death. According to medical records, he was 5'11 and 180 pounds. That's a healthy size and weight. So how did this physically strong and powerful dancer and actor die at the age of just 57? - He was a very health-conscious person, very body-conscious, had been an athlete and a performer for his entire adult life. - Patrick's body was ridiculous at certain times. I think at one point, his biceps were bigger than my head. But he never gave you that impression that he was that guy that was, you know, working out in the gym and looking in the mirror all the time. - While Patrick's body appeared to be strong and healthy, his life as a dancer and his long career acting had clearly taken their toll. These documents reveal a history of poly-trauma, including knee surgery and numerous traumatic fractures. As a teenager, he had a football accident that resulted in a badly dislocated knee. Patrick continued to suffer from traumatic injuries into adulthood, including breaking both legs and having a finger ripped off all while filming scenes. - He was a bit of a daredevil, and he would do as many stunts as he could. When you think of Dirty Dancing, that famous log scene, he did it himself, and kept falling off, and got injured. With the movie Letters From A Killer, he broke both his legs, and that meant that movie production was shut down for quite some time. So the studio heads weren't happy about it, but the bottom line was that there was no stopping him. - As a professionally trained dancer, Patrick will have developed an incredible ability to overcome both pain and injury. - I've watched dancers with their feet bleeding at the end of takes and somehow, they go back and do the next take. And Patrick was that way. - Patrick Swayze was clearly a resilient man used to dealing with pain. The numerous traumatic injuries that he sustained while performing his own stunts certainly didn't lead directly to his death, but they could have had an impact on his general health, weakening his body and making him more susceptible to injury. - January 13, 2008. Patrick and Lisa's ranch, California. Less than two years before his death. Patrick has been suffering with chronic pains in his stomach for the last two weeks. He has experienced some weight loss and he's noticed his eyes have started to turn yellow. - The most worrying aspect of Patrick Swayze's early symptoms is that he developed jaundice. This is the build-up of bilirubin in the blood. In adults, this is a dangerous sign. Bilirubin is produced in the liver from the breakdown of red blood cells. It's excreted from the body in the form of bile. When the liver malfunctions, bilirubin doesn't get excreted and it builds up and becomes apparent under the skin, eyes and nails, making them yellow. It's often accompanied by clay-coloured stools and dark urine, both of which Patrick had. His constipation, jaundice, and weight loss are likely to be connected. Patrick's various symptoms clearly reveal that his health was in jeopardy. - Do my eyes look yellow to you? - After ignoring his symptoms for several weeks, Patrick finally opens up to Lisa about his stomach pains and brings to her attention his jaundiced eyes. She wants to get it checked out, but Patrick insists there's no rush. Lisa books an appointment for the next day. - He had some abdominal pain and chalked it up just to the usual virus or a food allergy or maybe a food poisoning. - Could I make an appointment, please? - Patrick was stoic, he didn't complain, he didn't seek immediate treatment. He was not alarmed by his symptoms. - January 14th, 2008. Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. 20 months before his death. Lisa has booked Patrick for a check-up at the hospital. The doctor orders tests including CT scans, blood, and urine tests. - Jaundice is a sign of a malfunctioning liver and one of the most common causes for liver damage is excessive alcohol use. This can cause injury to the liver and pancreas, hindering their abilities to excrete toxins from the body. I can see from Patrick's own medical notes that he does have a history of alcohol abuse. * - Patrick's troubles with alcohol began in 1982, when he suffered a huge loss, the death of his tough Texan father, Wayne Swayze. - I think when Patrick lost his father, perhaps there weren't as many friends around as he'd hoped for. I think what happens in a case like that is, people seek solace in something else, and I think that partly contributed to his battle with alcohol. - In his autobiography, Patrick recounts the terrible effects the loss of his father had on him. - Everything was suddenly off kilter. The pain I felt seemed bottomless. I'd never been much of a drinker, but no matter how much I drank, I couldn't feel anything, so I kept drinking. - For a lot of people dealing with a bereavement, it's often the first time they'll try and self-medicate whether it's drugs or alcohol or anything that will allow them to escape. In Patrick's case, once his father dies, this is when his problems with alcohol begin. - 1989, London, England. After years of abusing alcohol, things finally came to a head after a film premiere. - There was one instance when he went back to his hotel room and just absolutely trashed the hotel room. (dramatic music) But that was a wake-up call for him. - Patrick halted his excessive drinking soon after. - Patrick had his ups and downs and I think he knew it was time for him to quit. - But his sobriety was short-lived, as just a few years later he was back on the bottle. After a box office flop, he even started drinking on set. - I drank more while making Fatherhood than I ever had before. We were trying to shoot a scene where I'm in the back of the car, but I'd had so much to drink, I kept passing out while the cameras were rolling. - 2006, California. Patrick's alcoholism lasted years and eventually resulted in Lisa taking drastic action. Patrick's wife of over 30 years walked out on him, hoping that might curtail his serious drinking problem. - I just can't do this anymore! - It is a disease. It's a horrible, horrible thing, and when it all goes wrong, you're just an alcoholic. He went to rehab to get control of it. For him to realise it and to get help and get sober again is a testament to his strength and courage. - Patrick's history of alcoholism could explain his chronic constipation, abdominal pain, and jaundice. The effects of alcohol abuse can be wide-ranging on the body. Excessive consumption can cause the pancreas to release toxic substances that can eventually lead to dangerous inflammation in the pancreas, preventing proper digestion. So Patrick's struggle with alcohol could explain his lengthy battle with digestive problems. But did this lead to his death? - January 14th, 2008. Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. Patrick and Lisa are having tests to reveal the truth behind Patrick's symptoms. The results are life-changing. Patrick Swayze is diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a type of pancreatic cancer. - When my doctor at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles said the words 'pancreatic cancer', a single thought popped into my mind ` 'I'm a dead man.' My doctor told me that my chances of surviving for more than a few months weren't high and I had no reason to doubt him. - The pancreas is an organ that sits behind the stomach. It has two key roles. It aids digestion and it helps regulate blood sugar. Pancreatic cancer starts when cells in the pancreas begin to grow out of control. There are two types of pancreatic cancer ` an endocrine type that is often curable and an exocrine type that is not. Patrick had one of the most common forms of exocrine pancreatic cancer, called pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and it remains the most deadly. - In many cases when you get a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the doctor says, 'Don't even bother to treat it. 'Just go home and get your affairs in order.' - A CT scan the following day showed that Patrick's cancer had spread from his pancreas to his liver, and this is secondary or metastatic cancer. Once this type of cancer spreads to another organ, particularly the liver, there's usually no coming back. And Patrick was given just a few months to live. How did he survive for almost two more years? I also want to find the trigger for Patrick's cancer. Although pancreatic cancer can be caused by numerous factors, alcohol has been linked to its development. Alcohol abuse may lead to persistent inflammation within the pancreas, called chronic pancreatitis, which creates the proper environment that fosters the development of cancer. But looking into Patrick's past there's something far more likely to have caused Patrick's cancer. And that's smoking. VOICEOVER: Hey, Auckland, which of the Youi 40 ways to save would work best for where you live? Grey Lynn, close to the city, is where Ava lives, so number 1 of 40 - "Don't drive to work" - could be best for her. Titirangi, where most people have off-street parking, is Rick's suburb, so number 24 - "Park securely at night" - could be best for him. Why not see which of the 40 ways apply to you? You could save lots. Get a quote online at youi.co.nz and save 15%. * - Patrick had a reputation of being a hard liver. He was a chain smoker. He smoked because he liked smoking. - In Patrick's medical record, it states that he was a chronic smoker of 60 cigarettes a day and that's a staggering amount. Cigarette smoking is thought to double the risk for the disease, and it's the most preventable cause of pancreatic cancer. Toxic chemicals in tobacco can mutate DNA which in turn causes normal cells to become cancerous. But from these reports, I'm surprised to find that Patrick didn't quit smoking after his diagnosis, even though there's clear evidence that shows that treatment works better if the patient quits. - Even though he knew he was going through his cancer and everything, it didn't stop him from smoking. He would often say, 'If I stop, this is what's gonna 'kill me, not the cancer itself.' - I think it was a source of embarrassment in some ways to him, but where your life is no longer yours to determine, what can you do to maintain some level of control? So it was a reasonable move in order to provide him the strength that he needed to continue the fight. - January, 2008. Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. After Patrick's diagnosis, Dr. Hoffman becomes his personal oncologist. - From the minute we met, I knew he was special. He had the physical resources, the mental wherewithal and enough structure behind him that he could fight this disease. - Patrick, the stoic Texan, has spent a lifetime overcoming pain and injury and is determined to beat pancreatic cancer too. - He had that feeling that he would be the one who would beat it. - Patrick believed that Patrick should be able to survive this and should be able to overcome it. He had that indomitable spirit that refused to give up. - But knowing the odds of surviving pancreatic cancer using standard treatments are low, Patrick signs up for clinical trials. - Patrick really wanted to be a ground breaker. He was interested in breaking new territory, finding new treatments and proving the textbooks wrong. He wanted to be the exception. - February, 2008. Stanford University Medical Centre, California. The Centre is known for its cutting-edge treatment of cancer, employing some of the top surgeons in the world. And so Patrick begins his potentially life-saving clinical trials. - I can see from the medical notes that Patrick was given the experimental drug Vatalanib, also known as PTK. Vatalanib works as an angiogenesis inhibitor by cutting off the blood supply to the tumours. It prevents new cells forming from the old ones and hopefully stops the cancer from spreading. Vatalanib remains an experimental drug even today. It has not been accepted as a form of therapy by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. His doctors were backing up Vatalanib with the established chemotherapy drug Gemcitabine, also known as Gemzar. I can also see that as well as trial medicines, Patrick turned to alternative therapies. - Patrick's enthusiasm for exploring options never waned. So he expressed interest in trying herbal preparations, Eastern medicine, as a complement to what we were doing. - Patrick's use of alternative therapies may have helped him psychologically battle his cancer, but there are other aspects of his treatment regimen that would have helped, like his diet. - Patrick is also eating organic fruits and vegetables and consuming regular vitamin-boosting smoothies. - Patrick seemed to be able to control his diet in a way that made him feel well and continued to support him during his treatment. Patrick always wanted us to learn more and to think outside the box. - The supplements and smoothies would have provided much-needed nutrition, and it's believed they can bolster the immune system. This could have made Patrick's body stronger, more resilient and more capable of fighting off his cancer. - April 2, 2008. Stanford University Medical Centre, California. Patrick had only been given weeks to live, but yet two months after he began the Vatalanib drug trial, he and Lisa were back at the hospital for the results. - Fortunately, Patrick's results showed that the lesions, or spots in his liver, had not grown, and they were actually less active. The tumour in the head of his pancreas had also not grown. It's amazing that months after his diagnosis he was showing signs of beating his cancer. And I can see here that after the trials, Patrick was even able to get back to work. - September, 2008. Chicago, Illinois. A year before his death. Patrick starts filming a 13-part TV series called The Beast. - In America, and especially Hollywood, they love a comeback, and Patrick certainly was coming back. He threw himself into the work. I think he thought he could power through it. - Patrick is playing the lead role of an undercover detective with many physically gruelling scenes. - He had a lot of fight scenes and a lot of physicality, and Patrick refused to let anybody do his work for him. If a stunt coordinator or the director insisted upon it, he would get pretty angry. - Even if you would say it was not a good idea for you to be jumping over three moving cars, he really took on a role, really embodied the role and really wanted to do it all. - He was working five days a week, 14 to 16 hours a day, getting chemo on the weekends, and as we say in Texas, he was kicking ass and taking names. - How you feeling, health's good? - Yeah, I'm a miracle, dude. - Yeah? - I don't know why. See ya. - But Patrick's doctors were worried he was pushing himself too hard. - I know that he was going to the very best doctors. They were telling him to quit, don't do the series, because you're never going to have the stamina to do that. And that obviously didn't happen. - I was concerned about Patrick's wellbeing. He pushed to no limit, he had no internal clock that said stop. - Psychologists talk about the sick role, that you can't work, you gotta be quiet around you. He rejected the sick role completely. He decided that, 'This is not going to faze me, 'I'm going to continue living my life.' There was a real sense that, 'You know what? 'I may have an illness, but I am not sick, 'this is not who I am.' - One thing I find extraordinary from Patrick's notes is that, despite the agony that he must have been feeling from his cancer and chemotherapy, he'd refused painkillers. - I asked him, I said, 'Why aren't you taking painkillers?' He said, 'I'm not taking painkillers, 'I want to know where I'm at, what I'm doing 'and why I'm doing it. I'm never giving up.' - I think part of it was again that grit, that toughness that he had. He was this strong Texan man, you know, that could do this, that didn't need help. - But behind the scenes, Roy discovers that Patrick isn't coping quite as well as he seems to be. - I went out to the trailer to find Patrick. I went in and he was just curled up in enormous pain, and covered in his own body fluids. Patrick, Patrick. I said, 'Buddy, I'm sorry, is there anything I can do?' He said, 'Just hold my hand.' I was sitting there, watching him go through all this pain, and I thought, 'I'm just a friend. What is this doing to Lisa 'and what is this doing to Patrick?' Because this is` his ego would not allow himself this indignation. - I can see in reports that on the set of The Beast, a year after he was diagnosed, Patrick was becoming increasingly fatigued and visibly ill. It will partly be due to the debilitating effects of the chemotherapy that can cause severe nausea and exhaustion. It's a wonder that he could perform at all. It may have also been that his cancer was progressing and potentially spreading to other organs. - Patrick looked very, very ill and I was standing next to John, and I turned to him and he looked and me and he just shook his head. And I said, 'I don't think he's going to make it through the day.' But there was an energy that sparked that allowed him to become Patrick Swayze. - Let's go! - All right, let's go. - However, Dr. Hunter has found something in Patrick's medical notes that revealed his unrelenting work ethic could have proved to be far more damaging than he realised. (WHIRRING) I reckon that's scrubbed up nicely. Right now get a great-looking RAV4 or Corolla with an even better-looking price. * January 9, 2009. Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. Nine months before his death. Patrick has finally finished filming The Beast and he's feeling run down. A trip to the hospital confirms he has pneumonia. - Cancer patients are at high risk of developing infections, because the cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs destroy the good cells as well as the bad, weakening the immune system. I can see from Patrick's records that he suffered from numerous infections throughout his battle with cancer. However, pneumonia is one of the most serious because it's associated with a high mortality rate in advanced cancer patients. Despite the severity of the situation, Patrick makes a miraculous recovery. - I do have some good news. - Patrick was fortunate time and again to receive excellent medical care and responded well to his treatment. It's clear that within a year before he died, he was still fighting his cancer. - He had the discipline of a dancer because of his mother and because of his upbringing. He just refused to give up. - February, 2009. Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. Despite all Patrick's efforts to beat the cancer, he's developed a resistance to the drugs he's currently taking and the tumours are continuing to spread. Running out of treatment options, Dr. Hoffman takes the risky decision to try a radically new combination, mixing the chemotherapy drug Abraxane with the Gemzar Patrick's already taking. - Patrick was the first person we treated with that combination, outside of the context of a clinical trial, and there was a lot of scepticism and a lot of debate behind the scenes. - Abraxane was originally approved for the treatment of advanced breast cancer, and at the time that Patrick received it, the Abraxane-Gemzar combination had not been approved by regulators. There were concerns for the risk of adverse reactions and toxicity, as well as the question whether these drugs would help at all. Once again, Patrick was a ground breaker, open to anything that might prolong his life. - April, 2009. Patrick and Lisa's ranch, California. Since the diagnosis, Patrick has been trying to live as normal a life as possible, including taking long walks with his horses. - I think that Patrick's decision to go back to his ranch and to deal with his dogs and his horses was really an attempt to not give in to this disease that he had. He wanted to be Patrick Swayze. He wanted to live a normal life because the minute you back away from that is the minute you say I'm done. - He continued to love dancing with his wife. Patrick's brother Donny is also around to help Patrick and Lisa out. Taking the chemo drug Abraxane commonly leads to hair loss, so they all take the decision to cut it off with horse clippers. - Patrick was always afraid to get to the point where he had to lose his hair. - What he tried very hard to do was to constantly be seen as Patrick Swayze and not like this cancer patient. So when he ends up losing his hair because of the chemo, this would have had a profound effect on him. - I can see from Patrick's notes that soon after he lost his hair, his mental and physical state rapidly declined. After this, Patrick experienced extreme weight loss, likely as a combination of his cancer and his chemotherapy regiment. - Four months after he lost his hair, and despite trying to disguise himself with a wig, Patrick's deterioration didn't escape the notice of the media. - When the pictures emerged of Patrick looking at his worst, with hair loss and with a hat on trying to cover things up, it was so, so devastating. - This is difficult for anybody going through chemo, but when you're a famous person and there is a paparazzi just waiting to get that snap of you looking frail, not looking like yourself, then it makes it so much harder. - It had become difficult for me to see Patrick because he'd become skeletal. It was just too difficult to see this incredibly courageous, powerful person disappearing in front of my eyes. - August, 2009. Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. Just weeks before his death. Patrick and Lisa are visiting the hospital for a routine check-up when Patrick starts shaking uncontrollably. His temperature rockets, and his heart is pumping incredibly fast. - Sedate him, I need you to check his heart. - From his notes, I can see that Patrick was suffering from another infection. His shaking and high heart rate would have been a reaction to this. Also, I can see that he had a high calcium, a low sodium, a low white blood cell count, and particularly worrisome, gastrointestinal haemorrhage. These are signs that his disease was rapidly progressing, and that he possibly only had weeks to live. - September 9, 2009. Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. Just under a week before his death, the doctors tell Patrick and Lisa there's nothing more they can do to help. - As brilliant as he was, his body betrayed him. So when we began to withdraw the care, he knew that the end was coming. - Later that day, Patrick finally makes it home. It's the last journey he will ever take. - Patrick wanted to pass at his own ranch, and Lisa said, 'This is your wishes, 'and I'm going to do everything I can in my power 'to make sure that you get all your wishes.' - By this stage, Patrick would have been in considerable pain. This pain would have come from the tumour invading his bones, nerves, and other organs. I can see that he was placed on the common opioid analgesic drug Dilaudid, also known as hydromorphone, a derivative of morphine. - Lisa was trying to keep him as sedated as possible. Every time he would say 'Ow!', Lisa would just give him more to keep him comfortable. He would fight it till the end, but when the time came, I do believe he said, 'Enough.' - September 11, 2009. Three days before his death. Lisa's brother Eric visits with his wife Mary. Patrick tells Lisa he loves her, and she says it back. These will be the last words they ever say to each other, as shortly after, Patrick slips into a coma. - This was an indication that Patrick's organs were failing. His body was shutting down. Patrick was ready to die. What makes you happy? Smarter ways to get around the city? Like driving past the petrol pump with the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Prius Prime ` goes up to 63km on electric alone... and has an unbelievably efficient fuel consumption. Whoa. That is clever. Plus, with Toyota Safety Sense technology, like Adaptive High Beam and Intelligent Park Assist, it's one of the smartest ways to get around ` all for a very smart Toyota Driveaway price. * - 10:00 a.m., September 14, 2009. Lisa can hear Patrick taking small continuous sips of air. Then she hears him take a deep breath and suddenly she realises he's stopped breathing. (melancholy music) Donny comes in, but it's too late. Patrick's body has done all it can. - Tributes are pouring in tonight for the actor Patrick Swayze. He died after a battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. - Sleep well, my love. - When I got the news that Patrick had passed away, it wasn't unexpected, but I was still shocked, because I still had this image of him fighting on. - When I heard that Patrick had died, I knew that he was at peace. - Although there is no doubt that pancreatic cancer killed Patrick, reports after his death suggest that there were other factors at play. - A few years after his death, wild rumours made global headlines, suggesting Patrick and Lisa's love story was not all it seemed. The media reported that Patrick had been abused and neglected by his wife of over 30 years. Not only was this devastating for Lisa, but it shocked the world. - After Patrick's death, various stories come out about possible abuse by Lisa of Patrick. - Whether it was to allow him to wallow in his own faeces or to be physical with him. - But the bizarre allegations came from an unnamed source and were reported on gossip site RadarOnline, making the credibility questionable. Dr. Hunter also doubts the likelihood of this abuse ever happening. - If Patrick had been put under a great deal of stress from abuse, neglect, or something else, then yes, his cancer could have killed him quicker than if he was provided the best medical care possible. But Patrick was given only a few months to live, yet he managed to live over 20 months. In my opinion, this would not have been possible had he been given poor medical and end-of-life care. (melancholy music) - I can tell you that I never ever saw Lisa ever do any of the things that they've spoken of. She was an extraordinary warrior, the kind of warrior that you always hope, whether it's a husband or wife or friend or whomever, that somehow you'll find that person not in the great times, but in the bad times, will be there by your side. - What I saw was a really solid relationship of two people who had a lot of respect for each other, a lot of love for each other and a lot of dedication to each other. - I never saw anything that would suggest that there was any kind of physicality that would be inappropriate. They were a harmonious couple and to see that kind of long-standing devotion, it was moving for us to see. - As well as Lisa's support, Dr. Hunter reveals other reasons Patrick was able to survive for so long. - Firstly, Patrick was an incredibly fit and healthy man before his diagnosis, which undoubtedly helped him fight his cancer. Secondly, Patrick received excellent medical care. His doctors caught infections early enough to treat them, and he had access to groundbreaking medications. Finally, Patrick's dogged determination to survive the cancer and fight through the debilitating pain kept him working and active, and this could have helped prolong his life. - Despite Patrick's courageous battle, his body eventually had to give in to the cancer. Having reviewed the evidence, Dr. Hunter believes he can reveal what happened to Patrick's body during his final hours. - As someone suffering from metastatic pancreatic cancer, he likely either had an infection with his immune system failing, or he may have had deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. That's where a clot will have travelled up from his leg and into the pulmonary artery, obstructing the artery and causing the heart to stop. However, I believe the reason would have been multi-system organ failure. He was in a coma for several days before he died. In his last moments, his breathing became impaired. As a result of this, his vital organs, including his heart and brain, were deprived of necessary oxygen. In the end, his body simply gave up. Patrick fought hard to be a great dancer. He fought hard to be a Hollywood star. And he fought hard to overcome alcoholism. When he was presented with the biggest battle of his life, stage 4 pancreatic adenocarcinoma, he truly believed he could beat that too. The fact that he lived for so much longer than anyone expected would suggest that he indeed did achieve a victory. - There was something very special, almost magical about who he was as a man. I felt deeply moved by having worked with him. And even after his passing, it resonates with me today. - I'll remember Patrick for his courage, for his wit, his wry sense of humour, and his conviction. His body's gone, but who he really was, he was extraordinary. - He was a real talent, whether it be through dancing, whether it be through acting. There's so much affection from the world for Patrick Swayze. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.