No one could catch her over three consecutive Olympics (1956, 1960 and 1964). She dominated. She was the Don of her sport. Her indomitable spirit, revered and renowned.

Dawn Fraser’s achievements are nothing short of legendary.

She remains a living treasure the nation loves and loves having around.

But at 87 years of age, Dawn Fraser admits, she’s not feeling quite so invincible any more.

In recent months, her health has taken a series of punishing blows – relentless setbacks that have pushed her body to the brink.

The strength that powered her to greatness has been tested in ways she never imagined.

She’s been forced to face her own mortality. Not once, but twice.

The stark reality is not lost on her or her family, that she could easily have died.

And it all began with a fall in her driveway in December last year.

Dawn recounts her incredible story of survival, as we catch up in a park on Queensland’s picturesque Sunshine Coast. The girl from Balmain has called Noosa home for nearly 20 years.

She arrives a little unsteady on her feet, leaning gently on her grandson Jackson, who she later affectionately refers to as her “walking stick”. Jackson always saw his Grandma as unbreakable, but there’s no denying she’s a little frailer than we’re used to seeing.

“I’ve lost 22 kilos,” she tells me.

“And a lot of strength.”

But she greets me with a warm hug, and the minute we begin chatting, there’s no mistaking that familiar spark that has endeared her to so many, for so long.

I ask her to take me back to that fateful day. Did she remember much about the fall? What brought the great Dawn Fraser undone? Turns out it was a simple task that saw her life begin to unravel.

“I was opening a case of Coca-Cola,” she says. She simply wanted a drink to quench her thirst. “And I slipped opening the plastic container. My foot got caught on the little ledge we’d just had made for the gate.” That invincible woman who amassed eight Olympic medals and set 39 world records, overbalanced and fell, hitting the concrete … and hitting it hard.

“I couldn’t get up. I really was in a lot of pain and I knew I had done something,” she says.

Dawn was home alone at the time. Her loving daughter, Dawn-Lorraine and devoted grandson Jackson, so frequently by her side, were on their way to the shops.

As luck would have it, Dawn had brought her mobile phone outside and she somehow found the strength to call her neighbours to raise the alarm.

It takes more than a fall to make her give up.

“The pain was excruciating,” she recalls.

“I’d never felt pain like that before. I’ve never sort of fallen or broken anything in my life and it was a shock to me.”

Hospital X-rays revealed a broken hip, four cracked ribs, potential internal bleeding.

Dawn had only just recovered from two cataract surgeries – one a failed attempt that saw the lens break in half and fall in the back of her eye.

Now, she was in need of a full hip replacement, the broken bone impossible to repair. But at 87, doctors warned, she may not survive the operation.

When the anaesthetist asked Dawn-Lorraine whether her mother should be resuscitated if something went wrong, she was taken aback.

Raised by one of the country’s fiercest competitors – the first woman to break the one-minute barrier for the women’s 100m freestyle – she knew her mother’s capabilities and potential to fight. There was no way her mum wasn’t coming home.

She politely reminded this doctor about the stature and status of the woman now in his care.

“I said, ‘This is Dawn Fraser. She’s not just any 87-year-old. She is tough.’ I know my mother, and I was quite upset about that.”

And Dawn, true to form, wasn’t ready to bow out either.

“When the anaesthetist came in and said I could die, that was the frightening part. That I could die under anaesthetic and I didn’t want to die that way, so that put my will up to come through and come out of it,” Dawn says.

“I wasn’t going to give in, especially away from my family.”

With the quiet perspective that comes with age, Dawn says she’s thought a lot about her final moments in recent years.

“When I die, I want to be with my family.”

In fact, according to Dawn-Lorraine, “I’m going to fight”, were among the last words her mum uttered before going under.

“As we walked to the operating theatre with her I said, “Promise me you’ll fight this” and she said ‘I promise’. And I knew that she would. I knew this wasn’t the thing that was going to put my mother down.”

With the realisation of what she just said, Dawn-Lorraine suddenly laughs. So does Dawn. “No one is going to put her down except me,” she jokes. Laughter at times, can make things so much easier to bear.

Thankfully, the operation was a success, but as Dawn learned to live with her new hip, a frightening new setback would upend everything she thought was behind her.

Only weeks later, as she was leaving the local surf club, that heart of gold of hers – a heart that had powered her to world No.1 – simply stopped.

“I started to feel very faint and I fainted and was unconscious for 5-7 seconds and I vomited everywhere and I didn’t understand what had gone wrong,” she says.

The confronting reality was laid bare a short time later at Noosa Hospital.

Dawn had faced heart troubles before. She suffered a mild heart attack at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Her heart today, while in good shape, needed support regulating the beat.

“They said my heart had stopped for five seconds and I had a very low heart rate, which I did have when I was swimming. But as I’ve gotten older, it’s got lower.”

Dawn has now been fitted with a pacemaker.

She credits the surgeon and the device for saving her life. Her heart is now monitored remotely, 24 hours a day.

She’s also been warned to slow down, no easy feat for a woman who’s spent a significant part of her life racing the clock.

“I have slowed down a bit,” she says.

“I have to put my feet up, and I don’t push myself like I used to. I just have to take it easy. I have to respect my age and my family because they look after me and they want me to get better and I want to get better for them.”

But being patient as a patient does not come easy for someone as irrepressible as Dawn Fraser. Ask her family what sort of patient she is, and they’ll tell you straight up, it hasn’t been easy.

The heavy weight of her woes saw Dawn slip into depression. Anti-depressants have helped get her through.

“There were times,” says Dawn-Lorraine, “when I thought she didn’t seem to have the will and I thought that was wrong. Of all the people, I didn’t expect mum to be saying I won’t survive this. And she didn’t say that, but I could see it and she just thought I’m not going to be here and I don’t see my mum not being here. I’ve always said she will be here a lot longer than I will be. Yes, it was really hard for me to see that.”

Dawn has since weaned herself off the medication. To help her heal, she’s now returned to the pool. A place where she once made history, now a saviour as she faces the greatest challenge of her life.

“I’m fighting. I’m back in the pool doing exercises three times a week. I’ve lost a few things. I used to be an eight-beat kick. I’m not any more.”

She jokingly tells me she’s also a little off world record pace and she’d easily be beaten by a 90-year-old.

“I’m slower, I’ve got to accept that. So I do a lot of running in the water for my knees and my back and my hip,” she says.

“I’m good now that I’m back in the pool. I feel happy. I hope to get some of my strength back because I’ve lost a lot.”

Today, she is not racing time, she is rebuilding.

And life is different now. She’s had to refocus her priorities. She’s more confined to home, doesn’t drive any more and uses a mobility chair. Her devoted family cooks, cleans and cares for her, getting her where she needs to go.

Dawn also indicates she’s travelling less, although she’ll make an exception in June to watch her beloved Dolphins at the national swimming trials in Adelaide.

Nothing can erase her staunch commitment to elite swimming – a mentor to the younger swimmers who see her as an idol.

When I ask her if she’ll also be poolside at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, she briefly smiles. Yes, she’d love to be there. That is her aim, but she’s quick to point out she’ll be 95 by then.

Ninety-five years young. Never underestimate the will of a champion.

That same spirit also drives her commitment to a legacy that goes beyond the pool. Dawn is passionate about the award named in her honour – The Dawn Award at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. It’s a prestigious honour, recognising an individual, team, or organisation that is courageous, brave, and has changed sport for the better. After everything she’s endured, I cheekily suggest, maybe she should be this year’s worthy recipient.

But ever humble, Dawn wants to shine the spotlight on others – those who’ve stood by her, have lifted her up and helped carry her through her darkest moments. Throughout her ordeal, Dawn says her family has been a pillar of strength and she simply wouldn’t have survived without their love and support.

She’s also speaks with deep gratitude for the countless well wishers – some famous, many she doesn’t even know – who sent cards and messages at the time of her fall.

Trembling hands have restricted her ability to respond. Her handwriting, she says, is not what it used to be. But she’d like it known she is forever grateful. Those messages helped get her through. They all left their mark.

“I’d like to say I’m very happy that people have written to me and cared about me,” she says. “I didn’t realise there were so many people that did that and to me that was a loving shock.”

She also acknowledges the generosity shown to her by the swimming community. She smiles as she mentions how Ian Thorpe rings her every fortnight to check on her welfare and whether she needs anything done.

Famous names like Gina Rinehart, Lindsay Fox and John Singleton are also singled out for special mention. But above all, Dawn’s deepest gratitude is reserved for her immediate
family. The devoted duo of Dawn-Lorraine and Jackson.

Spend a few minutes in their company and you’ll witness the unbreakable bond they share – a bond that’s only strengthened by everything Dawn has been forced to endure.

“I hate to think what they went through,” Dawn says. They do love me very much – as I love them.”

With heartfelt conviction she adds, “I don’t think we tell one another enough how much we love them. I don’t think we hug one another enough, but that’s going to change.”

Dawn knows deeply how much she owes them. And that love runs both ways.

There are times when you see the tears in Dawn-Lorraine’s eye, when she talks about the mum she almost lost.

And Jackson couldn’t be prouder of the way she’s fought back and won.

“I’m definitely proud of her,” he says.

“I’m just glad she is better.

“I’m just glad it’s all over and hopefully she’ll be with us until she’s 120.”

Just like the rest of us, Jackson too, believes the great Dawn Fraser is invincible. And after all the strength, the spirit and sheer determination she’s shown in beating the odds – it’s hard to believe she is anything less.

Sharyn Ghidella is a Qweekend columnist and 10 News First Presenter