The Dragon’s Blessing – the remarkable survival story of Dr Ian Gawler

Ian's chest with cancer

Back in 1975 a young Vet and decathlon athlete by the name of Ian Gawler was diagnosed with cancer.
The dramatic way the disease manifested in Ian Gawler’s chest was something like a scene from Alien; a foreign object striving to burst out of his body; a malignant, angry mass of cancer that seemed determined to take his life.
Visible bony lumps grew from the ribs, sternum and the crest of the ilium. (see photo)
He was coughing up blood and small pieces of bone, while lung X-rays showed up gross opacities.
His specialist told him he had only two or three weeks to live.
Eleven months earlier he had his leg amputated to arrest the spread of osteogenic sarcoma.
The old Australian expression, ‘If he was a horse you would have shot him’ springs to mind.
Eighteen months later the cancer was completely gone.
His recovery was so dramatic that some call it a miracle.
Ian describes it as hard work. Meaningful. Actually interesting. Even fun. But also hard work.
He also claims that what he did is repeatable.
Now, this remarkable medical story has been told by author Guy Allenby in Ian Gawler’s Biography, The Dragon’s Blessing.

Ian's chest post cancer

Ian says he was fortunate to be around in the pioneering days of Holistic and Mind-Body Medicine when the mind, and meditation as well as nutrition were just beginning to be used therapeutically.
And for Ian, the changes that cancer brought into his life sparked an intense spiritual journey and the search for meaning and purpose in his life.
The Dragon’s Blessing unfolds as Ian goes on to recover and then found the first cancer self help group in Australia – one of the very first such programs in the world.
The Dragon’s Blessing stands out as a cancer related book for many reasons. It offers a profound insight into the life, recovery and work of someone whose story epitomizes hope for so many people touched by cancer.
But more than just recovering, Ian Gawler then dedicated his life to helping others – both with cancer, equally groundbreaking work with developing MS self help programs and with those who are well – athletes, business people and those interested in preventing illness and achieving real wellbeing in their lives.

Why The Dragon’s Blessing?

Quention's drawing

The title of the book is related to a drawing by Quentin, an 11 year old boy who was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Quentin was paralysed down his natural right side and he completed the drawing left handed, six weeks after surgery for a brain tumour.
He explained that the dragon had lived in the lake for a long time.
However, recently the villagers had grown in number – they had been throwing a lot of rubbish in the lake and they were lowering their fishing nets deeper into the lake and tangling in his scales. So the dragon had arisen out of the lake to warn the Emperor. If he did not tell the villagers to put these things right, then he, the dragon, would kill them all.
This amazing metaphor for cancer began a remarkable series of pictures that Quentin drew with Ian and coincided with Quentin himself experiencing a remarkable recovery.
The Dragon’s Blessing provides a real opportunity to understand what it takes to recover from an almost hopelessly difficult cancer and provides a profound insight into the life of a person who epitomises hope, self empowerment and positive thinking for many people. The Dragon’s Blessing also provides intimate insight into the personal, and particularly the inner life of a man who is deeply spiritual and who has studies and combined ancient wisdom into a modern context. Ian Gawler has studied with Christian, Hindu and Buddhist teachers including His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his main, long term teacher, the world renowned Tibetan master, Sogyal Rinpoche.
Ian has been at the forefront of bringing meditation into popular usage and establishing meditation’s therapeutic value.
Ian Gawler has appeared widely in the media over many years. He is known for his capacity to bring humour, clarity and humanity to difficult and complex subjects. He makes them accessible to a very wide audience.
The Dragon’s Blessing, Ian Gawler’s life story, is not only a great story; it will inspire and inform people from all walks of life.

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