He’s yet to formally front a classroom, but Patrick Whymark has already applied many valuable lessons from his studies at UNE – and his brush with death.
Patrick had completed an Arts/Teaching degree with us and was all set to start his Masters in 2014 when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Without a bone marrow donation and a successful transplant, he was unlikely to survive. “It was on the cards,” says Patrick, whose health and mid-life dreams of becoming a high school teacher soon began to fade.
Fortunately, a living donor was found in Western Australia and, after three months of intense chemotherapy, Patrick underwent a successful transplant. The father of two was 52.
“It was a bit touch and go to start with, but I was pretty positive and slowly I got better and better”
“It was a bit touch and go to start with, but I was pretty positive and slowly I got better and better,” he says. “I took a year off full-time work initially, then kicked off the Masters study again and just did one subject at a time, until I finished (in 2020).
“I am really proud of myself. I was that kid who left school at 16, who had potential but was pushed into an apprenticeship. University seemed unachievable back then. My career took me into the printing industry, civil construction and local government. Teaching was something that I had always wanted to do, to give something back, but I didn’t have the chance.”
While Patrick hasn’t yet worked as a school teacher, he visits high schools as part of a mentoring program and is contemplating a part-time TAFE teacher role as he transitions to retirement. He says he applies what he learnt at UNE almost every day.
“Any study you do helps you professionally and personally,” he says. “I’ve developed a broad knowledge and better communications skills and this has helped in my management roles, even though I am now 60 and nearing the end of my career.”
His new lease on life also earnt Patrick two bronze medals – in shotput and discus – at the World Transplant Games earlier this year in Perth. Competing in those events, as well as volleyball and tenpin bowling, he enjoyed the camaraderie and inspiration of others who had also received a life-saving transplant.
“It’s probably one of the best experiences I have ever had and I would have done even better if I’d had some technical training or a coach … but that’s not what it’s really about. You meet people getting on with life, who have been through such adversity. People who were on their last legs until a living donor was found or someone died and one family’s grief became another family’s happiness.
“The games are a great opportunity to reflect"
“The games are a great opportunity to reflect. Surviving leukaemia was a pretty big thing for me, and having the support of my family, and being able to finish my academic studies after being so sick. Some people are not so lucky. It reminds you to make the most of what you’ve got while you’re still around.”
Patrick with his family
