Cancer fundraiser Connie Johnson has died, a day after being made a member of the Order of Australia.
Johnson, 40, survived cancer twice as a child and in her early 20s before being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33.
When she was told the cancer was terminal, she founded the charity Love Your Sister along with her brother, actor Sam Johnson, with the aim of raising money for cancer research and encouraging women in Australia to be aware of the early signs of breast cancer.
Connie Johnson: what a fighter.
— Leigh Sales (@leighsales) September 8, 2017
So sad to hear the news of the passing of Connie Johnson. A beautiful person who gave so much to so many. Thoughts are with her family #RIP
— lehmo (@lehmo23) September 8, 2017
Go well, Connie Johnson. Cancer warrior, fundraiser, fighter, mother & sister. What a legacy you leave. Love to Sam. @loveyoursister 💕💕
— Candice Wyatt (@CandiceWyatt10) September 8, 2017
The charity has now raised $5.6m for cancer research and Sam Johnson, who won the Gold Logie award for best actor in 2017 for his portrayal of Australian television icon Molly Meldrum, has said he will not return to acting until they raise $10m.
In a statement on the Love Your Sister Facebook page on Friday night, Sam Johnson said: “We lost Connie today. Or, as she asked me to say, she died of cancer today….She went so richly, and with such grace.
“I’m sad and sorry to be the one to tell you this, yet at the same time, as the chief custodian of my sister’s legacy, I also feel extremely grateful and proud,” he said.
“I’m off to cuddle the fam and warmly embrace an exquisite whisky, in memory of my sister, who did so bloody well, from start to finish. Thanks for everything, Connie Cottonsocks. It was my pleasure to be your Sammy Seal.”
In a 2014 TedX Talk in Brisbane, Connie Johnson explained how she and her brother concocted a plan for him to ride 16,000 km around Australia on a unicycle to raise awareness of breast cancer, breaking the world record for a solo unicycle journey and raising $1.8m for cancer research.
“(We) cooked up a way to give me a long-lasting legacy,” she said. “Something that would be around long after I was gone. Something my kids could read about and say: wow. That was our mum.”
Johnson said raising money and awareness about breast cancer had become the top item on her bucket list, beyond spending time with her partner, Mike, and two sons.
“The reality of the rest of my life is I will be in and out of hospitals on a never-ending regime of medication to keep me alive for another month,” she said.
She spoke about surviving cancer at the ages of 12 and then 22, only to be told, at 33, that “this time I would not be a survivor.”
“Me and cancer, well, we have a love hate relationship,” she said. “I absolutely hate cancer, but unfortunately cancer loves me.”
Farewell to a great Canberran https://t.co/0wAMMyuIZ8
— Andrew Leigh (@ALeighMP) September 8, 2017
She received the Medal of the Order of Australia on Thursday from governor-general Peter Cosgrove, who visited her in the hospice where she was getting palliative care.
“Her eyes danced like when we were kids,” Sam Johnson said. “She looked so alive.
“Afterwards, she looked at me sideways, coz she can’t move her head too well, and she kept saying, in her weak and raspy voice: ‘Can you believe it? Can you believe it? Look what we did. We did something!’”
Supporters of Love Your Sister have left tributes on the foundation’s website, saying Johnson was an “inspiration” and thanking her for sharing her experience.
