Hazel's Brave Quest I Survived The Virus No-one Talks About

The Mum and Daughter on a Mission to Heal.

- Julie Jacobson

Most mums and daughters share a special bond, but for one Dunedin mum and her daughter, the ties that bind have a far wider significance.

Hazel Heal and her middle daughter Bessie Van Hale (26) are on a mission to de-stigmatise hepatitis C. With the recent decision by Pharmac to fund Maviret, a breakthrough drug that cures the blood-borne disease, they’re encouraging every Kiwi to get tested.

Hazel (55) was pregnant with Bessie when she was diagnosed with hepatitis C in ’92.

“There was very little known about it,” explains Hazel, whose two other daughters, Lena (28) and Meg (23), and her husband, Robert (55), are also big supporters of her work in the field. “It was looked on like HIV or worse. When I was having Bessie, I had biohazard tape across the door – full Ebola-style treatment – and everyone was in full welding [hazmat] gear.”

Bessie was whisked away after the birth and scrubbed with bleach. But it was a snide comment from a senior nurse that really raised Hazel’s hackles. “She came in and told me it was a pity I’d had her because we’d both be dead in 10 years.”