Nick and his family were stalked by cancer. Then came a blood-test bombshell

It was a line-ball decision when Nick A’hern and Joanne Samuel relocated from Sydney to the Blue Mountains in the early 1980s.

The young couple had see-sawed between a terrace in grungy inner-city Redfern and a sprawling block in the sleepy village of Blackheath, with scope to build their forever home.

Nick A’hern has discovered disturbing levels of “forever chemicals” in his blood, after his tap-water supply was contaminated. A’hern, his spouse, actress Joanne Samuel, and their son have all recovered from cancer. Credit: Jessica Hromas

Samuel was an up-and-coming actress and self-confessed “city girl”, who a few years earlier had landed her big break as the on-screen wife of Mel Gibson’s character in the original 1979 Mad Max film.

But the couple went west for the sake of their young children, who would benefit from space to roam and the pristine air and water – or so they thought.

That illusion has now been shattered by a shock pathology test result, showing A’hern has very high levels of toxic “forever chemicals” in his bloodstream.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals – linked to cancer, high cholesterol and immune system suppression – have been discovered at elevated levels in the upper Blue Mountains’ drinking water supply.

Now, A’hern is haunted by the question: could there be a connection between the tap water his family drank for nearly four decades and the cancers that have stalked them?

Samuel was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2010 and A’hern was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012. But the biggest shock came five years later, when the couple’s son Jesse, then 33, was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

All three have recovered but remain mystified by the family’s run of bad luck.

“It was weird,” A’hern, now 67, said. “There was no family history with any of us.”

A’hern’s blood test detected one of the most notorious forever chemicals, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), at a level of 46ng/ml, nearly six times the Australian average for men over 60.

A filtration plant has been installed to purify the Blue Mountains’ drinking-water supply, but a leading theory suggests the water was contaminated as far back as 1992.

A’hern is furious that authorities failed to test for PFAS until last year, under pressure from a Herald investigation. 

“You feel really angry because I’ve been drinking the water all this time,” he said. “My levels are pretty insane.”

A’hern had one of a small number of free blood tests arranged by Jon Dee, who runs the local STOP-PFAS action group.

A’hern slammed the government for not subsidising testing for all Blue Mountains residents, noting many would baulk at the $500 cost.

“You need to know because then you can do something about it,” said A’hern, who is proactively seeking out ways to reduce his own PFAS levels. “I can’t believe the government’s not doing anything.”

NSW Health does not recommend blood testing for PFAS on the grounds “there is not enough scientific evidence available for a doctor to be able to tell you if the PFAS in blood indicate a risk to your health”.

A type of forever chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been linked to an increased risk of testicular cancer by health agencies around the world, including the World Health Organisation and US EPA.

The Australian government has also acknowledged the association but stresses it is not the same as proving direct causation.

But Samuel is now left to wonder what a sliding-doors moment may have cost her family.

“You think you’re going up to have this beautiful haven up there, that fresh air and good life,” she said. “And I think we should have stayed in bloody Sydney.”

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