Was in 2 minds on whether to post this, but thought it was the right thing to do.
My condolences to Rebecca’s family and friends.
LEGENDARY journalist, columnist and broadcaster Rebecca Wilson has passed away.
The award-winning sports journalist at The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph lost her long and very private battle to cancer this morning.
Her husband John Hartigan and sons Tom and Will this morning said:
“Our amazing Bec lost her long battle against breast cancer early today.
“She passed away peacefully in the family home in Sydney while surrounded by her loved ones.
“Courage has always been a significant part of her DNA, no less in her desperate battle against her insidious disease.
“Rebecca kept knowledge of her illness a closely guarded secret. The majority of her friends, colleagues and indeed members of her family were unaware of the extent of her illness. She did so to limit their suffering.
“We are so proud that she was so fearless in her chosen role as a sports journalist. She brushed aside evil trolls, bullies and organised crime figures to prosecute her craft.
“She proved that women had an equally important role in sports journalism as her male counterparts.
“We dearly love and miss our Bec.”
Broadcaster Alan Jones broke down while paying tribute to his good friend and regular guest during his show this morning.
Jones said he had visited Wilson each day recently and spoke of her brilliance as a journalist.
“Bec was a force of nature in a way. She was brilliant, she was unsparing and unyielding as a journalist,” he said, clearly shaken by the loss.
“As one of her friends said to me ‘she was the best of all anomolies - a tomboy who held her own with the blokes, she was comfortable in her own skin, fiercely real’.”
TODAY Show host Karl Stefanovic also paid tribute to Rebecca on the breakfast show this morning, saying ‘a real light had gone out’ with her death.
Co-host Sylivia Jeffries added that Wilson had paved the way for female journalists to succeed in the traditionally blokey world of sport.