Professor Neville Hacker retires from Royal Hospital for Women

He’s operated on at least 6000 women, among them saving the Banfield family legacy. Here is a tribute to one of Australia’s finest doctors.

L to R: Professor Neville Hacker , Josh Banfield , Lisa Banfield and Lucas Banfield. Picture: John Appleyard

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The Banfield family tree would have been cut tragically short if it was not for Professor Neville Hacker.

Lisa Banfield, now 52, was facing terrible odds of survival after cervical cancer recurred in her abdomen.

But the odds of her having children were even less.

Still, when Prof Hacker operated on Mrs Banfield 20 years ago, he pinned her ovaries behind her rib cage to protect them from the scatter of radiation.

The opening of the new Gynaecological Cancer Centre at the RHW. From the left Judith May, Lady Susan Street, Clover Moore, Professor Hacker and Peter Collins State Minister for Health.

Mrs Banfield survived but at 32 her body plunged into menopause.

“We see it after chemotherapy, usually six months in menopause and then the ovaries start working again but this was a very unusual sort of situation … although we’d hitched her ovaries, it doesn’t take much radiation to kill an ovary,” Prof Hacker said.

Mrs Banfield thought she would have to use donor eggs and a surrogate to have children with her husband John.

“I didn’t attempt anything to do with children for a good year and a half because I wanted to make sure I was going to live because I didn’t think that was fair for John,” Mrs Banfield said.

But “divine intervention” occurred three years later when her ovaries “woke up”.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Prof Hacker said. “I had hopes but when she went into menopause for a couple of years I thought unfortunately that didn’t work … because of the scatter (of radiation).”

Mrs Banfield said: “They started up like a rusty lawnmower.”

Thanks to Prof Hacker, she was declared cancer-free and her eggs were harvested. A surrogate in the US carried the Banfields’ embryo, and then a second miracle happened. The one embryo split. They were going to have natural twins.

Fast forward to today and Mrs Banfield is flanked by her 14-year-old sons Josh and Lucas at the Royal Women’s Hospital to honour the lifesaving work of Prof Hacker, who is retiring in December at 74.

“John and I are eternally indebted to Neville,” Mrs Banfield said.

Professor Neville Hacker is retiring after more than 30 years at the Royal Hospital for Women.

The couple is among the thousands that Australia’s pioneer of gynaecological oncology has helped. The Royal Hospital for Women’s gynaecological cancer centre director has performed surgery on 6000 women.

“Anybody who could do what I did would have saved them,” Prof Hacker said.

He will be stepping down after 32 years at the hospital.

Prof Hacker shaped the future of gynaecological oncology in Australia, having practised in the US when sub-specialities were introduced in 1974.

All three Banfields owe their life to Prof Hacker.

“At that time there was nothing to come back to in Australia,” he said.

He introduced new ways of treating vulvar cancer worldwide and founded the International Gynaecological Cancer Society.

He remains close to many of his patients and their children. “They are an important component of my life,” he said.

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