A longtime cameraman for CTV News has undergone a major surgical procedure after a doctor identified his neurological condition during a routine video shoot, according to the network.

The cameraman, Kirk Neff, has lived for decades with essential tremors, a disorder that causes involuntary shaking, particularly during tasks that require fine motor control. Neff said the tremors began when he was a teenager and slowly intensified over the course of his career, making routine parts of his job — such as attaching microphones or operating handheld equipment — increasingly difficult.

“I tried different medications over the years, but nothing really stopped it,” Neff said in a CTV interview. “You’re constantly thinking about how to keep your hands steady. It wears you down.”

Neff’s condition came to the attention of Dr. Mojgan Hodaie, a neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital, during the filming of a recent news segment. While Neff assisted her with a microphone, Hodaie immediately noticed the characteristic tremor in his hands.

According to CTV, she paused and told him, “I can fix that.”

The encounter led Neff to pursue treatment options, eventually undergoing a five-hour surgical procedure in which doctors implanted an electrode near the area of the brain responsible for the shaking. The device, connected to a pacemaker in his chest, provides deep brain stimulation, a therapy used to manage symptoms of movement disorders.

Neff remained awake for the procedure — standard practice for this type of surgery.
“The next morning, I picked up a bowl of soup in my left hand and it didn’t shake,” he recalled. “That was the moment I realized how much my life had changed.”

The improvement allowed Neff to resume daily activities he had begun avoiding, including holding hot drinks and operating certain camera equipment. Only one hand has been treated so far, with a second procedure planned.

Colleague Omar Sachedina, CTV’s chief anchor, said he had watched Neff struggle for years as the tremors gradually worsened.
“He always tried to make people comfortable, cracking jokes while attaching their microphones,” Sachedina said. “But you could see how hard he was working to hide the shaking.”

Neff has since published a video series describing his experience, prompting messages from others living with essential tremors. When he reunited with Dr. Hodaie in a follow-up recording, Neff thanked her for the impact the surgery has had on his career.
“You saved my life. You saved my career,” he told her.

The network reports that Neff hopes his story will encourage others struggling with the disorder to explore available treatments.