MHS grad’s script for ABC’s ‘The Good Doctor’ inspired by another MHS grad

Co-writer Nathalie Touboul’s episode, based on the life of Lyon Herron and his struggle with a rare disease, aired Jan. 23

Nathalie Touboul graduated with Malibu High School’s Class of ’07, and Lyon Herron graduated a few years after that. Herron, who has su ered from the rare disease Gardner syndrome for most of his life, made a big impression on Nathalie. In fact, so much so that now, 16 years after graduating high school, he was the inspiration for a character in a script she co-wrote for ABC’s long-running show “ e Good Doctor.” It was the “B-story” in the episode titled “Quiet and Loud” that aired Jan. 23.

“He’s within my age group, and Malibu is a small community, and he’s such an advocate for his rare disease, and I remember a bunch of local fundraisers given for him over the years,” Touboul recalled in a phone interview. “I pitched his rare disease to my bosses [at ‘ e Good Doctor’], and they were excited and let me put it in the script.” e episode will hopefully bring national attention to the extremely rare disease, Gardner syndrome, that puts individuals at high risk for developing colorectal cancer and ongoing desmoid tumors. It is an inherited condition caused by a genetic abnormality. ere is no cure, but the symptoms can be managed.

Herron, a Malibu native, was rst diagnosed with the disease at the age of 4. He later developed stage 3 colon cancer and was treated with a variety of conventional and alternative treatment methods. He’s had dozens of surgeries, including the removal of a 6-pound tumor, stem cell therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy.

Beginning in November 2019, Herron spent 485 days at Cedars Sinai hospital dealing with an intestinal stula (hole) and inter-abdominal abscesses. Aggressive fast growing desmoid tumors wrapped around his small intestine and mesenteric artery, and he developed sepsis, edema, and low hemoglobin.

In January 2022, during a procedure to put a new clamp on