Photo: supplied
As Jason Gurney was growing up in South Auckland, there was a permanent long shadow cast over his whanau.
His father, Keg, had Rheumatic Fever - contracted as a healthy 14 year old at a weekend rugby tournament.
From that initial sore throat, Keg got permanent heart damage.
As a teenager, Jason Gurney would often have to drive his dad to Middlemore hospital emergency room in the middle of the night - it was quicker than getting an ambulance.
Those terrifying experiences led Jason Gurney to a career in public health.
He is an epidemiologist, the Director of the Cancer and Chronic Conditions Research Group, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago.
Dr Gurney has just published a book about the impact of rheumatic fever on his whanau and of so many others - it's called The Twisted Chain.
