Family and friends remember Kerryn McCann

Family and friends remember Kerryn McCann
December 12, 2008 - 12:50PM

About 1000 mourners gathered in driving rain to farewell marathon runner Kerryn McCann this morning.
The 41-year-old mother of three died of cancer on Monday.
Her husband, Greg McCann, and her three children, Benton, 11, Josie, 5 and Cooper, 14 months, led the funeral service, which was conducted at Church of Christ in the Wollongong suburb of Figtree.
Officiating at the ceremony was Christian surfer Brett Davis, who said that McCann had been an inspiration to her family, her community and the entire country.
"Somebody said she was an ordinary woman with an extraordinary talent. Never a more true word spoken," he said.
Among the mourners were marathon greats Robert de Castella and Steve Moneghetti, athletes Raelene Boyle and Craig Mottram, her manager Nic Bideau, swimmer Susie Maroney and local politicians, including Jennie George, David Campbell and Sharon Bird.
Many of the family and friends who spoke during the service mentioned McCann's two-second victory in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games marathon.
"She was running on the wings of angels," her friend Krishna Stanton said.
McCann discovered she had a cancerous lump in her breast when she was pregnant with her third child. She had surgery last year while still pregnant, and had the birth of her son Cooper induced so she could begin 20 weeks of chemotherapy.
The treatment seemed to have been effective but this year she found that the cancer had returned, spreading to her liver and finally her brain.
She died at her home in Coledale, north of Wollongong, with her husband and children at her bedside.
Her family asked the Australian public to make donations to Breast Cancer Network Australia in her memory.