Must watch: the show that brought us all to tears.

This is the show that will bring you to tears. It’s the one where we tell the story of a couple who lost their daughter and turned the experience into a campaign to help the rest of us.

Here’s the whole show:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IipHGEWikeo&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

Every once in a while you meet a person (or couple) who just stop you in your tracks with their story. Tonight you’re going to hear the powerful story of Toni and David McCaffrey whose daughter Dana died in 2009 from whooping cough.

It’s the disease you can’t fight. There is no cure. The antibiotics do nothing. You just have to hope your body is tough enough, and has the training it needs from vaccinations, to fight it.

Dana was born and passed away in an area of Australia that has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. In Northern New South Wales. And it’s here that a group is continuing to peddle misinformation and lies about vaccinations.

This story will bring you to tears.

Let’s meet the guests:

Bronwyn McCahon: She’s the savvy editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine and newly minted mother. Tonight Bron will be talking about fertility … and what’s had women so scared lately.

Simon Sheikh: Here’s a high achiever. Simon is 25 and director of GetUp, the activist group that campaigns on issues of social justice and the environment. Mostly!

Sam de Brito: He’s the author of Hello Darkness and The Lost Boys and part-time subject of some of your crushes.

Which he informs us is totally OK by him. Sam also writes the weekly Fairfax column All Men Are Liars* *Except Sam de Brito. Which is a fine read. We surprise Sam with his topic this evening. Poor man.

Sarah MacDonald: Funny lady, superb wit and bestseller. That’s not a bad resume. Sarah is the phenomenal talent behind the uber-seller Holy Cow and broadcasts on Radio National.

The panel will also be joined by Dr Rachael Dunlop who will talk us through the science of vaccinations … and why we should all get boosters.

Here’s one of our shots from the record:

For people in Victoria two parents whose families have been affected by Whooping Cough (Di Cherrie and Sarah Nolan) will be at a Whooping Cough Awareness stand at the Victorian Pregnancy Babies and Children’s Expo in Melbourne from the 21st October to 23^rd.  An immunisation nurse will be there to give free vaccines to dads (partners of pregnant women) and also to the public for a nominal fee.