'Sullivans' son loses disease fightFioana Byrne

December 24, 2006 12:00am



ACTOR Richard Morgan, who found fame as a youngster as Terry Sullivan on the much loved Australia drama series The Sullivans, has lost his battle with motor neurone disease.

Morgan, 48, died in Melbourne yesterday. He leaves his wife, Lisa, and two daughters, Ella and Zoe.
Morgan's last acting role was that of detective Reg Masters in the undercover cop drama Stingers in 2004.

He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last June.

Morgan revealed his condition in an emotional radio interview a year later, stating that he knew his time was limited.

"The attitude I had to take was that tragedies occur everywhere, all the time," Morgan said.

"For a lot of people, the tragedy is sudden. My life hasn't stopped instantaneously.

"I may as well enjoy each day I have, because that's all I have.

"I have feeling in my legs but I have no control over them. The muscle has wasted.

"It's started moving to my chest, which is why my breathing sounds laboured, and it's moving to my arms."

Motor neurone disease is the name given to a group of diseases in which the nerve cells controlling the muscles that enable us to move, speak, breathe and swallow do not work normally.

With no nerves to activate them, muscles gradually weaken and waste.

Morgan followed his stint in The Sullivans with roles in the hit film Phar Lap and TV series Home and Away, A Country Practice and Sons and Daughters.

Despite his obvious talent and ready work opportunities, Morgan dropped out of acting for a decade during which he built a profitable computer business.

He sold the business and returned to acting, landing roles in quality shows including MDA, Blue Heelers and Something in the Air.