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In Memoriam: Fallen Stars of 2024
Fiona MacDonald’s combat has travel to an end.
The Australian TV big died astatine the property of 67 aft a conflict with motor neurone disease (also called ALS)—a benignant of neurodegenerative upset affecting the encephalon and nerves—which she was diagnosed with successful 2021.
But up of her passing, Fiona chose to instrumentality power of however the quality would beryllium shared with the satellite and drafted a connection to beryllium shared aft she’d died.
“Farewell my friends,” began the October 3 message. “My sister Kylie is posting this due to the fact that I person near the gathering - Hopefully I’m looking down from a cloud.”
She continued, alongside photos with her sister and sons Harry and Rafe, “Last nighttime brought an extremity to a precise pugnacious fewer months. Was precise peaceful the boys and Kylie stayed with maine to accidental goodbye. While I’ve ne'er wanted to die, the thought of leaving my tortured assemblage was a relief.”
Fiona besides elaborate the ways her illness had progressed successful caller months, making swallowing nutrient impossible, and however her assemblage couldn't tolerate the macromolecule drinks meant to prolong her. She’d besides been suffering from sever backmost pain, arsenic her muscles could nary longer enactment her frame.
“The achromatic humour that served maine good done the archetypal years of this travel turned to despair,” she admitted. “I made the determination aft overmuch psyche searching to cease each aesculapian supports and yet spell into infirmary for extremity of beingness palliative care. When you emotion beingness arsenic overmuch arsenic I do, it takes a large woody of courageousness to marque choices that pb to farewell.”
Instagram/Fiona MacDonald
Yet, Fiona held onto the content that her decease didn’t people her end.
“So let’s not telephone it goodbye arsenic I anticipation to spot you again connected the different side,” she added, portion quoting the Irish blessing that begins, “May the roadworthy emergence to conscionable you.”
She concluded, “I transportation your emotion and laughter with maine and anticipation you’ll retrieve mine.”
Fiona was champion known for hosting the children’s amusement Wombat as good arsenic the It’s a Knockout game amusement passim the 1980s.
Children’s TV shaper Dina Browne, who worked with MacDonald connected Wombat, shared with Australia’s ABC News, “Everybody loved her. An implicit imagination subordinate of unit and a fantastic endowment who believed precise overmuch successful the prime of children's television.”
Instagram/Fiona MacDonald
Since receiving her diagnosis—which she received aft noticing she sometimes struggled to talk clearly—Fiona not lone shared the highs and lows of her illness connected societal media, but she besides became an advocator for the condition.
In fact, she and her sister Kylie spent overmuch of 2023 driving astir Australia successful what they referred to arsenic the “big lap,” during which they raised wealth for MND research.
As MacDonald’s neurologist Professor Dominic Rowe told Australia Story astatine the time, “She enactment her armor backmost on, pulled herself unneurotic and with a spot of a f--k you approach, said, 'This is what I'm going to do.’”
A sentiment shared by Dina.
"What a courageous, brave and unselfish happening to do,” Fiona’s erstwhile workfellow said of the tour. “Because it wasn't astir her, it was astir the probe that would prevention different people."
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