Luke Tunnecliffe: Ed Sheeran Serenaded My Non-Verbal Son - A Family’s Search for Answers and the Treatment That Changed Everything

Luke Darcy sits down with Luke Tunnecliffe - a man who has spent most of his career behind the scenes shaping the biggest moments in Australian sport and media.

From walking into Collingwood at 17 to decades in the Triple M Footy chair and building JamTV alongside Eddie McGuire, Luke is a steady hand. A connector. A storyteller.

He’s been in rooms with Usain Bolt. Backstage with John Farnham. In Shane Warne’s man cave while Ed Sheeran played DJ.

But this conversation isn’t really about any of that.

It’s about Jack.

Luke and his wife Amy are raising three children, including their son Jack, who is nonverbal and autistic. Unwilling to accept treatment with no promise of positive change, they have spent years trying to understand what might help, and how to hold a family together when life doesn’t look the way you thought it would.

Luke speaks honestly about the strain - the financial weight, the exhaustion, the impact on siblings, the friendships that fall away and the ones that step up.

He talks about the way music became a lifeline for Jack. And how in one extraordinary moment, Ed Sheeran sat with his guitar beneath the MCG and sang to him - calming him in a way few others could. 

And then came a treatment plan that has changed everything. While there’s still a long journey ahead, the treatment has already led to the moment that Luke will hold onto for the rest of his life - Jack putting his arms around his neck and saying the three words he’d been waiting years to hear.

This is an episode about resilience, fatherhood, mateship - and what it feels like when hope slowly starts to return.

This conversation reflects Luke and his family’s personal experience. It is not intended as medical advice. Listeners should always seek guidance from qualified healthcare professionals when making decisions about their own health.

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