A second shot: How a doctor spotted a CTV News cameraman’s condition and said ‘I can fix that’

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Kirk’s Journey: Part 1

Kirk’s Journey: Part 2

Kirk’s Journey: Part 3

Omar Sachedina is Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor of CTV National News.

TORONTO – For almost two decades, Kirk Neff and I have travelled Canada and documented some memorable stories together: An interview with a prime minister, a prince and exploring the pristine Northwest Passage. He even captured my mom’s return to Uganda 50 years after she was expelled from her homeland.

That’s why it’s an honour to be able to tell his story – about a condition he rarely talks about.

Over the next three days on CTV National News with Omar Sachedina, we’ll take you on an incredible journey as Kirk undergoes surgery to confront his essential tremors, a neurological condition that causes uncontrollable shaking when someone engages in a fine motor skill, like writing or, in Kirk’s case, shooting video.

You can only imagine what that’s like for someone whose life’s work is to “get the shot.”

Sometimes, there is only one chance.

“It takes a lot out of you,” Kirk shared. “So not only are you shaking, but your mind’s working 24/7 … not only on what you’re doing, but working on trying to keep your hands straight.”

In other words, the more he thinks about it, the worse it gets.

Outside of work, even eating or drinking a cup of coffee is an exhausting game of mental gymnastics.

“When I was 16 years old, I noticed that I had these little shakes,” Kirk said. “I didn’t really know what it was, but I started taking pills and they gave me stuff for it, and it never really worked.”

I noticed it on shoots, too. When I first started working with Kirk early in my career, the shakes seemed minor - almost as though he might have had too much coffee or something. But progressively, they got worse.

I always noticed when Kirk had to put a microphone on a guest, he was always prepared with a few jokes to distract them from what was happening with his hands.

On our car rides back to the newsroom, Kirk acknowledged the shakes, but he never understood why they were happening.

Even though both of us knew it could be a condition that could ultimately rob him of his life’s passion, neither of us entertained that possibility.

I’m sure Kirk was carrying the burden of fear, and I was also scared of what would happen: not only to one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with, but also someone who had become a friend to me over the years. You don’t work that closely with someone for that long and not form a deep bond.

Recently, Kirk was on a shoot where he met Dr. Mojgan Hodaie, a world-renowned neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital. When he put the microphone on her, she immediately said, “I can fix that.”

And that led to an incredible door opening for Kirk.

In Part 1 of the series, you’ll get to know what Kirk has been silently suffering from, and how he’s been able to work around his condition for his high-pressure job.

In Part 2, we’ll follow Kirk right into the operating room at Toronto Western as Hodaie performs a five-hour operation - while Kirk’s still awake. The purpose of the surgery is to plant an electrode near the network of nerves responsible for Kirk’s shaking, then connect the other end of that electrode to a pacemaker planted in Kirk’s chest. The electrical charge is known as a deep brain stimulation, which patients can control from their phones and is meant to stabilize the shaking.

Finally, in Part 3, we’ll show you to what extent the procedure worked, the emotional reunion between Kirk and his doctor after she performed the procedure and the first thing he told her when she asked him how he was doing.