Valerie TAYLOR “I've been blessed”
The Australian Women's Weekly|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.
Valerie TAYLOR “I've been blessed”

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.”

Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYVer todo
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

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 minutos  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 minutos  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 minutos  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

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 minutos  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

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 minutos  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 minutos  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 minutos  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

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

time-read
10+ minutos  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

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

time-read
5 minutos  |
July 2024