Gumleaf
December 8th, 2008, 06:59 AM
15:03 AEST Mon Dec 8 2008
Dual Commonwealth Games marathon gold medallist and mother of three Kerryn McCann has died from breast cancer at the age of 41, Breast Cancer Network Australia says.
Her husband Greg and their children Benton, 11, Josie, 5, and Cooper, 14 months, were at her bedside on Sunday night when she died at their home near Wollongong in NSW.
Details of McCann's funeral arrangements are expected to be announced in the coming days.
McCann revealed last year that she had beaten breast cancer after it was detected during her third pregnancy.
Doctors had induced an early labour at 34 weeks in the preceding month for baby Cooper, now 14 months old, who was born healthy at 2.4kg.
A 2.5-centimetre lump was removed from McCann's right breast during the pregnancy and she underwent an 18-week course of chemotherapy after the birth.
"The surgeon was confident he got it all and he was right. It's fantastic news," McCann told New Idea in October 2007.
However, in September of this year, her husband said his wife was undergoing a "few problems".
McCann's manager Nic Bideau says that Kerryn exhibited hope to those close to her when she knew her life was coming to an end.
Mr Bideau said the cancer had spread to her liver and more recently to her brain, leaving doctors with no new chances to save her life.
"The doctors couldn't give her anymore chemo or radiotherapy because her body couldn't take it," he said.
Mr Bideau visited with McCann on Thursday and Friday last week and was told by her husband that the family was out of options.
"She was very frail, very weak and very small but in good spirit. She was obviously coming very close to the end," Mr Bideau said.
"She was just trying to give people around her hope."
But McCann kept pushing on, he said, for her family's sake.
"She told me the doctor was going to fix it but I think she knew that there was no fixing going on," Mr Bideau said.
He spoke on Monday to her husband's sister and described the family as "bitterly upset" and "devastated".
Mr Bideau praised McCann's efforts as a wife, mother and an athlete.
"She was fantastic while she was here," he said.
"She was an inspiration to the whole group of athletes she competed with and the next generation beyond that.
"And she won't be forgotten easily."
McCann's family has asked for privacy and requested that flowers not be sent.
Instead, they welcome donations to the Breast Cancer Network Australia or the McGrath Foundation.
McCann and fellow breast cancer sufferer Jane McGrath, wife of former Australian test cricketer Glenn McGrath, had been friends before Ms McGrath died from the disease in June.
Speaking at the launch of a joint Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA)/beyondblue initiative to tackle depression among breast cancer sufferers, BCNA chief executive Lyn Swinburne said she had spoken on the phone to Greg McCann earlier on Monday.
"When I spoke to her husband Greg this morning, he said: 'She fought so hard Lyn, she was such a fighter'," Ms Swinburne told reporters at the MCG.
"And I think those visions of her running around this oval and coming into this oval after running such a long distance - she showed those attributes, the courage and the fortitude."
McCann was aged 38 when she provided one of the dramatic highlights of Melbourne's 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Exchanging the lead several times with Kenyan Hellen Cherono Koskei as they approached the MCG, McCann hit the front and entered the stadium to a massive roar from the crowd.
As the pair battled the final stretch around the stadium, McCann lost the lead before summoning an inspiring home straight burst to eclipse Koskei and snatch victory by two seconds.
She described it as "probably the greatest victory I've ever had, or the greatest race I've ever run".
Just two-and-a-half years later, Ms Swinburne said it was poignant to be back at the MCG, launching a breast cancer depression initiative and speaking of McCann's death.
"This is a very sad occasion for us but also it seems particularly poignant to think that we're in this room, looking out at the MCG, which only two years ago was the place where Kerryn was awarded her gold medal for her outstanding marathon performance, which none of us will ever forget," she said.
"And it seems particularly sad to think that only two years later we've lost her from our lives."
Mr McCann told Ms Swinburne he and the children were at McCann's bedside overnight.
"Greg, her husband, spoke to us this morning and we want you to know that she was surrounded by the love of her family, her three young children," Ms Swinburne said.
"We've had a lot to do with Kerryn and her husband Greg over probably the last year and a half."
She said McCann's aggressive cancer had inflicted "a relentless assault" on the former athlete's body, but she never gave up hope.
"She was talking on Monday about seeing some progress, seeing some hope for herself, so she was certainly somebody who didn't chuck in the towel at all," Ms Swinburne said.
"But for some of us, that whole vision of fighting and this being a battle isn't actually something that's terribly helpful, because it's almost like Kerryn, in passing away, has lost her battle.
"She didn't actually lose anything. What happened was she had a terribly aggressive type of cancer and no matter how hard she fought, it wasn't successful."
Dual Commonwealth Games marathon gold medallist and mother of three Kerryn McCann has died from breast cancer at the age of 41, Breast Cancer Network Australia says.
Her husband Greg and their children Benton, 11, Josie, 5, and Cooper, 14 months, were at her bedside on Sunday night when she died at their home near Wollongong in NSW.
Details of McCann's funeral arrangements are expected to be announced in the coming days.
McCann revealed last year that she had beaten breast cancer after it was detected during her third pregnancy.
Doctors had induced an early labour at 34 weeks in the preceding month for baby Cooper, now 14 months old, who was born healthy at 2.4kg.
A 2.5-centimetre lump was removed from McCann's right breast during the pregnancy and she underwent an 18-week course of chemotherapy after the birth.
"The surgeon was confident he got it all and he was right. It's fantastic news," McCann told New Idea in October 2007.
However, in September of this year, her husband said his wife was undergoing a "few problems".
McCann's manager Nic Bideau says that Kerryn exhibited hope to those close to her when she knew her life was coming to an end.
Mr Bideau said the cancer had spread to her liver and more recently to her brain, leaving doctors with no new chances to save her life.
"The doctors couldn't give her anymore chemo or radiotherapy because her body couldn't take it," he said.
Mr Bideau visited with McCann on Thursday and Friday last week and was told by her husband that the family was out of options.
"She was very frail, very weak and very small but in good spirit. She was obviously coming very close to the end," Mr Bideau said.
"She was just trying to give people around her hope."
But McCann kept pushing on, he said, for her family's sake.
"She told me the doctor was going to fix it but I think she knew that there was no fixing going on," Mr Bideau said.
He spoke on Monday to her husband's sister and described the family as "bitterly upset" and "devastated".
Mr Bideau praised McCann's efforts as a wife, mother and an athlete.
"She was fantastic while she was here," he said.
"She was an inspiration to the whole group of athletes she competed with and the next generation beyond that.
"And she won't be forgotten easily."
McCann's family has asked for privacy and requested that flowers not be sent.
Instead, they welcome donations to the Breast Cancer Network Australia or the McGrath Foundation.
McCann and fellow breast cancer sufferer Jane McGrath, wife of former Australian test cricketer Glenn McGrath, had been friends before Ms McGrath died from the disease in June.
Speaking at the launch of a joint Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA)/beyondblue initiative to tackle depression among breast cancer sufferers, BCNA chief executive Lyn Swinburne said she had spoken on the phone to Greg McCann earlier on Monday.
"When I spoke to her husband Greg this morning, he said: 'She fought so hard Lyn, she was such a fighter'," Ms Swinburne told reporters at the MCG.
"And I think those visions of her running around this oval and coming into this oval after running such a long distance - she showed those attributes, the courage and the fortitude."
McCann was aged 38 when she provided one of the dramatic highlights of Melbourne's 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Exchanging the lead several times with Kenyan Hellen Cherono Koskei as they approached the MCG, McCann hit the front and entered the stadium to a massive roar from the crowd.
As the pair battled the final stretch around the stadium, McCann lost the lead before summoning an inspiring home straight burst to eclipse Koskei and snatch victory by two seconds.
She described it as "probably the greatest victory I've ever had, or the greatest race I've ever run".
Just two-and-a-half years later, Ms Swinburne said it was poignant to be back at the MCG, launching a breast cancer depression initiative and speaking of McCann's death.
"This is a very sad occasion for us but also it seems particularly poignant to think that we're in this room, looking out at the MCG, which only two years ago was the place where Kerryn was awarded her gold medal for her outstanding marathon performance, which none of us will ever forget," she said.
"And it seems particularly sad to think that only two years later we've lost her from our lives."
Mr McCann told Ms Swinburne he and the children were at McCann's bedside overnight.
"Greg, her husband, spoke to us this morning and we want you to know that she was surrounded by the love of her family, her three young children," Ms Swinburne said.
"We've had a lot to do with Kerryn and her husband Greg over probably the last year and a half."
She said McCann's aggressive cancer had inflicted "a relentless assault" on the former athlete's body, but she never gave up hope.
"She was talking on Monday about seeing some progress, seeing some hope for herself, so she was certainly somebody who didn't chuck in the towel at all," Ms Swinburne said.
"But for some of us, that whole vision of fighting and this being a battle isn't actually something that's terribly helpful, because it's almost like Kerryn, in passing away, has lost her battle.
"She didn't actually lose anything. What happened was she had a terribly aggressive type of cancer and no matter how hard she fought, it wasn't successful."