Susie Maroney ‘MUM WAS MY WHOLE WORLD’
The marathon swimming legend is raising awareness about the disease that took her mother
Susie Maroney was reduced to tears recently simply by the sight of her mother’s favourite carrot cake in a local bakery window. It’s only weeks since the marathon swim champion lost her beloved mum Pauline, 78, and the grief is still raw.
Yet Susie has always been a battler, buoyed by her mother’s constant love. As such, she is already on a mission to raise awareness and funds to beat oesophageal cancer, the stealthy disease that stole her “bedrock” and best friend.
The single mother-of-three tells Woman’s Day, “Mum was my whole world and looking back, I was so very lucky to have her. She never rested, she had such a huge heart. I’m so proud of her and so glad to have so many beautiful memories of her.
“For the last four years, being her carer, we walked so closely, we held each other’s hands. I would have done anything for her. We had an unbelievable bond and that helps me to go on now she’s gone. Mum has given me the strength to fight anything in my life, you know. She supported me through everything.”
ANOTHER CHALLENGE AHEAD
Born with cerebral palsy, Susie has faced and overcome so many struggles – three divorces, the loss of two unborn babies, her own battle with melanoma and the tragic death of her twin brother Sean at 27. The gifted triathlete fell from a hotel balcony in Hawaii in 2002.
Today, the gutsy Order of Australia recipient has yet another challenge – oesophageal cancer – firmly in her sights.
“I really want to help other people by raising consciousness and money for research, because it’s not one of the well-publicised cancers,” says Susie, 46, who famously completed a gruelling 38-hour marathon from Mexico to Cuba in 1998, with cheerleader Pauline’s encouragement.
“No-one knows much about cancer of the oesophagus. They think it’s something to do with lifestyle, but it’s not. It’s one of those cruel things that just happens, and it happens really fast. People normally die within 12 months.”
A devoted nurse for 55 years, Pauline was a well-liked and familiar figure in the closeknit, beachside community of Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, where she worked at the local hospital and later at Stella Maris Aged Care in Cronulla.
Sadly, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer just after her retirement, having
dismissed the early warning signs of her illness – lethargy, weight loss, breathlessness and night sweats – despite 10 years spent caring for oncology patients.
Given only eight weeks to live, indomitable Pauline – who swam the English Channel with all five of her children in 1992, creating a new world record in the process – was having none of that grim prognosis.
FIGHTING SPIRIT
Courageously, she lived for almost four years before she passed away on December 14, survived by husband Norm, a retired NSW assistant police commissioner.
Her last words were, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I’ve got another 10 years to go.”
Pauline always had a wickedly wry sense of humour and remained positive to the end, as she didn’t want to worry anyone – least of all Susie’s children, Paris, 12, Capri, 10 and River, eight.
“We’re all so proud of her,” says Susie, choking up as she explains how even Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a longtime Sutherland Shire resident, had penned a personal tribute to her mother. “People come up to us in the street all the time, to tell us how Mum nursed them or someone in their family, and how much she cared.
“She taught us all so many things... Love for children, how important that is, because she adored her 13 grandchildren.”
‘Mum has given me the strength to fight anything in my life’