From the Australian TV news show “Today Tonight”: Despite the official line that Lyme disease doesn’t exist in Australia, one sufferer has fought for recognition and compensation, and won.

February 21, 2012, 6:18 pm Clare Brady Today Tonight

As a gardener at a Coffs Harbour Resort, Robert Sotur was bitten by ticks at least 500 times over ten years.

He saw dozens of doctors and a neurologist, and they all said the bites meant nothing. But he wasn’t convinced, and kept notes and photographs of the tick bites on his body.

“After so many years, they finally realised it’s a Lyme like illness – it’s Lyme disease,” Sotur said.

That documentation has led to one of the most significant wins for Lyme disease sufferers – acknowledgement by a Government body. The father of two won a Workers Compensation claim.

“I think they sort of realised that I got sick due to work from the ticks, and basically accepted that,” he said.

It was a Government Workers Compensation payout for a disease the Federal Government, the Australian Medical Association and State Governments all say doesn’t exist in Australia.