“I've Been Blessed” - Valerie Taylor
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ|October 2019
At 83, Valerie Taylor has survived close encounters with the most dangerous sharks on the planet but she brushes them off as mere trifles. Valerie’s most terrifying encounter, she reveals exclusively to Jenny Brown, was with breast cancer.
“I've Been Blessed” - Valerie Taylor

In the beginning, there were seven other women in the Sydney breast cancer clinic with Valerie Taylor. They endured fear and pain side by side, swapped stories, shared secrets and encouraged each other through the awful side effects of chemotherapy. As time passed, they continued to meet for lunch or coffee while their numbers gradually, inexorably dwindled. Ultimately, only two of them were left. And then, sadly, Valerie became the sole survivor of their friendship group.

Aged 50, the vibrant Australian diver renowned for swimming with sharks had taken on humanity’s most pitiless predator – cancer – and lived to tell the tale, despite the direst of medical predictions.

“I was told I had only a 25 per cent chance of surviving,” says Valerie, now 83 and revealing her cancer struggle for the first time after more than three decades. “The doctors thought I wouldn’t make it, but I knew I would.

“It’s peculiar because the other seven women in the clinic had a better prognosis than me, yet they all died. One by one they dropped off until there was just the two of us. I asked the other lovely woman, Liz, not to tell me if her cancer came back. But she did.”

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2019-Ausgabe von Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2019-Ausgabe von Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY NZAlle anzeigen
PRETTY WOMAN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

PRETTY WOMAN

Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
July 2024
Hitting a nerve
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
July 2024
The unseen Rovals
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The unseen Rovals

Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
July 2024
Great read
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Great read

In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
July 2024
Winter dinner winners
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.

time-read
7 Minuten  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
July 2024
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE

Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.

time-read
7 Minuten  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 Minuten  |
July 2024
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START

Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
July 2024