Deledio tells of trauma year

FORMER Richmond star Brett Deledio has opened up on a traumatic year that has included a terminal cancer diagnosis for his 34-year-old sister-in-law.

Deledio was traded to GWS and then had to watch on as the Tigers stormed to the most unlikely of premierships.

But Deledio has revealed he has had to endure so much more in the past year that included a long list of family tragedies. Deledio’s sister-in- law Sarah Chivers, a Melbourne mother of two, has had a recurrence of the brain cancer she first suffered in 2008.

Then her 18-month-old son was diagnosed with a different brain cancer, an oncologist telling her the odds of the twin diagnosis were longer than winning Powerball.

Deledio paid tribute to her bravery in a year where he also lost his grandfather and aunty.

“Footy aside, I have faced some real challenges familywise and personally,’’ he told the 20FOUR website.

“The day I was supposed to move up here to Sydney I got the phone call Pa wasn’t doing too well and he was in hospital.

“We were on our way down when we found out he had passed on. Earlier this year, I also lost my aunty to cancer.”

Chivers found out in March her brain cancer was back.

“At 33 with two young kids, it’s pretty heartbreaking,” Deledio said. “Then just after the dreaded finals series we found out her son, my nephew, has also got a tumour in his brain that had to be cut out.”