Rob's redemption 'KINDNESS & FAMILY SAVED ME'

Using experiences of his depression battle, the former Frontline reporter now helps others living on the edge

- Fleur Guthrie

Veteran TV broadcaster and author Rob Harley, 71, has devoted much of his career to telling stories of people who, after experiencing the worst that can happen, had found the solutions to pushing past life's “quitting points”.

Rob overcame his own quitting point too, when after his liver failed in 2016, he found his mental health unravelling following transplant surgery.

Emerging out the other side - thanks to some therapy, great family support and mates – the father of two now walks alongside others who are suffering on life’s edge.

Rob’s new book Relentless is out now. Written from his home in South Head, overlooking the shores of the Kaipara Harbour, where he lives with wife Alison and a beagle named Bagel, it recounts tales of those who have overcome adversity and found their own survival mechanisms.

How are you doing and can you talk us through what happened with your liver?

I’ve been keeping in really good health. The liver failure was a result of some complexities in my life. I had a very brilliant business partner – we made documentaries together – but we parted company. Then she came back on the scene looking very unwell... I was aware she suffered from depression. A few days after she came back to renew our creative relationship, I got the news that she had died by suicide. I felt a huge sense of responsibility for that. So I fell into a major depression hole and couldn’t climb out. I sought to dull the pain with booze and got cirrhosis of the liver over a six-year period. It was only due to getting sober for six months that my liver specialist put me on the transplant list for a new one. I almost didn't make it.

And your wife Ali sent messages from hospital telling friends to come and say their goodbyes?