Standing in theatre, about to perform her first scene as a surgeon was a particularly confronting experience for Shortland Street star Virginie Le Brun. Not only was the actress nervous about her new role, she also knew that at the exact same moment, her father, French-Kiwi winemaker Daniel Le Brun, was lying on a real operating table about to undergo life-saving surgery.
“It was a very sobering scene to film,” tells Virginie (28) who had only just won the part of Dr Gabrielle Jacobs in the popular soap when Daniel received his frightening prostate cancer diagnosis.
“Knowing that Papa was sick made me realise he represents everything to me in my life that is strength.” tells Virginie. “Anytime I feel it in myself, it comes from my father,” says the petite star, squeezing the arm of her beloved dad.
For Virginie, her mother Adele (57) and brother Remy (20) it came as a huge shock to discover that the strong and stoic head of their close-knit family was suddenly facing the biggest health battle of his life. “Daniel has always been so fit and healthy, he never gets sick,” says Adele, who’s marketing manager for No 1 Family Estate, the methode champenoise brand the family began after selling their famous wine label.
“He doesn’t even have a doctor because he’s never needed one. He once told me to take him off the medical insurance because it was a waste of money!” she laughs. So when Daniel tore a shoulder ligament while working in the family’s Marlborough winery, Adele cleverly seized her opportunity. “I rang the doctor and told him to make sure Daniel got a full warrant of fitness while he was there,” she tells.
“I fell into a trap,” jokes Daniel, with a rumbling French accent that adds a touch of gravitas to everything he says. Although he had no reason to believe he was unwell, Daniel admits he may have already had symptoms of prostate cancer – the most common cancer to afflict Kiwi men. “For up to 10 years it was difficult to pass water first thing in the morning,” he explains.
“But I thought, ‘Well, I suppose I am just becoming an old man.'” Thankfully, his astute wife was also keeping tabs on her husband’s well being and had noticed a worrying change. “We had been living behind the winery while our house was being renovated and didn’t have an ensuite bathroom for a while,” Adele explains. “But, as soon as we did, you couldn’t help but hear. I realised something was different.” Neither had any idea, however, how grave the situation was.
“My parents both died of cancer in their early fifties,” says Adele, “but Daniel was so unlike my family – he was fit, healthy and a rock to us all. I suppose you look for comfort at these times and I remember saying to the doctor, ‘Do you think it could be cancer?’ I expected him to reassure me, but he replied, ‘Yes, I do.'”
The next stage for Daniel was a biopsy, which turned out to be deeply traumatic. “I was told I might bleed a bit but that I should not worry,” he says, “but then afterwards I went to the bathroom and suddenly I had a huge haemorrhage. “It didn’t feel too good,” he says, shaking his head and causing his wife and daughter to break into giggles at this classic example of male understatement.
“I had to wear a pad!” he groans, giving the two women another reason to burst into peals of laughter. “I told him, ‘Now you know how it feels!'” jokes Adele. “I’ll never forget the day we got the diagnosis though,” she adds, her eyes now glistening with tears. “French people often use words we wouldn’t ordinarily think of, and Daniel sat on the bed, shook his head and said, ‘This is very dramatic.’ There were a few tears, and a big sigh then he looked at me and said, ‘But what about my family?’ He wasn’t worried or scared for himself, he was thinking about us.”
Later that night the pair were back in the emergency room. “I could not handle it,” says Daniel. “Never had I felt something like that before. It took an hour before they appeared with a large syringe,” he shudders. Thankfully, the septicaemia that had developed after the biopsy was caught just in time.
Virginie managed to get a flight from Auckland the next morning and tells of her shock at seeing her Papa looking so vulnerable in his hospital bed. “That was for me one of the hardest moments,” she says reaching for her dad’s arm once again. “Going to Papa’s ward and walking round the corner and seeing him there nearly knocked me right over. I can scarcely remember him having so much as flu. Seeing him in that position, it was like my pillar of strength started to dissolve.”
Meanwhile, Daniel now faced two drastic treatment options for the cancer – surgery or radiotherapy. Adele – who confesses she spent so much time researching the subject on the internet she became a “prostate cancer geek” – found out about a less invasive surgical option available in Australia where small probes enter the abdomen via buttonhole incisions.
The subsequent operation in Sydney was deemed a success, but unfortunately there was more bad news to follow for Daniel, when it appeared that some of the cancer cells had spread into other parts of his body.
This result meant seven tough weeks of radiation treatment in Christchurch, with Daniel insisting that, between bouts of radiotherapy, he and Adele drive back to Marlborough to join their son Remy, who was busy working among the vines. During the treatment, Daniel was able to win over the staff at the hospital with his celebrity connections.
“Daniel’s used to people knowing his name from his wine,” says Adele. “But when he came home from radiotherapy he was giggling because the nurses saw his name and asked if he was any relation to Virginie off Shortland Street.” Daniel laughs, “Virginie flew down to see me and the staff were all excited, saying, “Gabrielle is coming!”
Finally the future is looking bright once more and the Le Bruns are firmly focused on making plans. As well as the new rose they’ve just launched, Daniel is marking his son’s upcoming 21st birthday with a new wine the pair worked on together. “As time goes on, the chances of being cured get better and better,” says Daniel cheerfully. “Now the doctor has told me I’m bound to live to a grand old age.
“The key to successful treatment has to be early detection,” continues the famous vintner, who hopes his story will motivate others to have the all-important blood test. “I would recommend any man over 50 to get checked, and to do it even younger if you have a family history.”
“Now we say, ‘Hooray for the sore shoulder!'” says Virginie, with a big smile. And Adele squeezes her husband’s hand as she softly tells him, “We want you around for a long, long time.”
