Radio star battles Parkinson ‘s

6PR talkback host Howard Sattler has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Source: News Limited

RADIO veteran Howard Sattler isn't the type of person to do anything quietly, let alone die quietly.

So the 6PR talkback host has vowed to fight tooth and nail to stay on air despite being recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

In an effort to spread awareness and support research for Parkinsons, Sattler has opened up about how he is battling the condition and what keeps him fighting.

Howard Sattler wakes suddenly. It is dark and he is terrified - a feeling he has become familiar with over the past few months. The fog of dreams and nightmares clears and he remembers where he is. He's in a situation he does not want to be in, doing things he does not want to do.

It's hard, it's frightening and it's a battle he can only fight on his own. There is one thing keeping him going - fear. Fear of the alternative. Fear of what will happen to him if he gives up.

"Get up," Sattler urges himself. "If I don't get through this I'm going to get shot dead in the middle of a jungle."

It is 1969. Sattler is a 23-year-old cadet journalist and he is one of thousands of young men who have been conscripted for military service in the Vietnam War.

Sattler knows his best chance of avoiding a bullet to the head in the middle of a Vietnamese jungle is to avoid being sent to the middle of a Vietnamese jungle.

So after he finishes basic training as a soldier, he signs up for six months of intensive testing to become an officer. If he can pass the gruelling course through unforgiving terrain in a remote area of New South Wales, he will land a cushy job in Perth working in public relations for the army. If he fails the course, he will find himself scouting for enemy guerrilla fighters intent on sending a bullet through his brain.

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Radio star battles Parkinson 's