DEBORAH HUTTON The scars that heal
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ|August 2020
When Deborah Hutton was rushed in for surgery on a facial skin cancer, she was shocked to hear it had been caught “just in time”. She tells Juliet Rieden about the wake-up call we all need to heed.
Juliet Rieden
DEBORAH HUTTON The scars that heal
It feels strange to meet up with Deborah Hutton and not be greeted by her usual smile. But smiles are not possible at the moment. Deborah’s face is a swollen, dull yellow on one side, strained and painful with a Band-Aid stretching from her nose down her cheek. The dressing covers a gaudy wound and as we settle down to talk about her unexpected cancer surgery she can’t help but shield her lip with her hand, an involuntary protection instinct.

When I ask what her face looks like underneath the dressing, Deb pulls out her phone and shows me a photo taken a couple of days ago by the nurse before she removed the stitches too numerous to count. It’s a raw, arresting shot revealing a meandering oval-shaped angry scar crisscrossed with stitches mapping out the edges of the skin flap that was lifted in surgery and then sewn back in place. The affected area is surprisingly large, tracing right down along the top and corner of Deborah’s lip.

When she shared the photo on Instagram expressing her relief and gratitude that “they’ve got it all”, it sparked an unprecedented outpouring of support from more than 7000 people from all over Australia.

“I um-ed and ah-ed about doing that. Instagram is the only social media I use and then only if I want to say something. But it shocked me to see my face after the surgery and I thought, I want people to see this because there’s an ugliness to skin cancer that frightens the s*** out of you. It has certainly frightened me. But what’s more frightening is if you just sweep it under the carpet and put your head in the sand. I got a real wake-up call.”

Esta historia es de la edición August 2020 de Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

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 August 2020 de Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

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 AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY NZVer todo
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 minutos  |
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 minutos  |
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 minutos  |
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 minutos  |
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 minutos  |
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 minutos  |
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+ minutos  |
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 minutos  |
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 minutos  |
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 minutos  |
July 2024