Tributes flow for much-loved Hervey Bay writer Leanne Esposito

A popular pizza restaurant owner and former News Corp writer, who had style and strength in spades, is being remembered after her decision to medically end her suffering amid a battle with brain cancer. Here is her story.

Paolo Esposito did not know the woman he calls his soulmate would close her eyes for the final time this week.

Hervey Bay’s Leanne Esposito was resilient, passionate and brave, with a passion for writing and a gift for choosing the right words.

A respected feature writer for the Fraser Coast Chronicle, readers around the region fell in love with her language and storytelling.

Later, she would be part of the team that formed Alive Magazine, lending her gifts and talents to a brand-new venture.

But a year and a half ago, Leanne experienced an episode of aphasia.

It was a health battle her beloved daughter Rebecca Matthews shared with Leanne’s friends and family at the time as she described the challenges her mother was facing.

During the episode, Leanne had forgotten names and had difficulty recognising objects, then struggled to find the words and sentences that had always been such a huge part of her life, Rebecca said.

Soon after she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour, which she had spent more than a year battling.

But on Monday Leanne decided it was time to let go, empowered by the now-legal Voluntary Assisted Dying process.

Rebecca and her son Xaver have spent the last six months walking beside Leanne every step of the way through the end of her illness.

Speaking to the Chronicle on Wednesday, Rebecca said her mother had fought really hard during the year and a half that followed her diagnosis.

Leanne Esposito and her daughter Rebecca Matthews.

Hervey Bay's Paolo and Leanne Esposito.

Leanne had chosen VAD to stop her own suffering and ease the burden on those around her, Rebecca said.

“She showed up every day and kept a really positive attitude most of the time,” she said.

“In the end she was very brave.

“She took that peaceful pathway out of suffering.

“I think it was absolutely selfless.

“I was right beside her. She just wanted to slip away peacefully.”

On Monday, Rebecca had shared the news of her mother’s death on social media, sparking an outpouring of tributes for the woman who had made the world a better place just by being in it.

She said she had read “so many beautiful comments” about her mother and appreciated people sharing their memories.

“Mum was always a bright light,” Rebecca said.

“She loved people and she was so good with words.

“She would do anything for anyone if they needed it.”

Leanne had faced a lot of struggles in her own life, Rebecca said, and had shown enormous resilience to take anything life threw at her.

Hervey Bay's Paolo and Leanne Esposito.

Along with Rebecca, Leanne was loved by her son James and daughter-in-law Jamie, as well as her parents, Alex and Dawn McKean.

With Paolo, Leanne had helped run Paolo’s Pizza Bar in Torquay which quickly became a dining institution.

Families, Fraser Coast residents and visitors felt at home at the venue, where a warm welcome from Leanne and wood-fired pizza from Paolo was always guaranteed.

After 16 years and in the wake of Leanne’s illness, Paolo made the life-changing decision to step away from the business which has now changed hands, and he intends to return home to Mexico.

Leanne had told him she would be gone by the time he went home, Paolo said in a heartbreaking interview with the Chronicle.

“She told me, ‘I’m going before you leave’,” he said.

But she did not tell him that she had chosen a time.

Hervey Bay's Paolo and Leanne Esposito.

It was a decision she knew he did not agree with, but when the moment was right, Leanne found peace.

The last weeks of her life had been difficult, Paolo said.

Leanne had been in palliative care.

“She took a decision yesterday to get euthanasia,” Paolo said.

“She was so brave. And she didn’t tell me, she didn’t tell me.

“She said the day before she wanted to spend the day with me.”
Paolo had called the next day to ask her to have coffee, but she told him a palliative care nurse was coming.

He said Leanne had had enough.

Paolo said the months of being unable to communicate as she would have wanted to had taken a toll on Leanne.

“She liked to talk, she like to write, she liked to read,” he said.

But the impact of the cancer on her brain meant she was unable to read or write.

Hervey Bay's Leanne Esposito.

“She was really struggling personally, she was struggling to get through all the time to talk with people, to make them understand.”

Months ago, Leanne had asked Paolo what he thought about VAD.

Paolo had told her she was not so impaired that she couldn’t talk and still enjoy life.

He had told her he did not agree, but he was not in her shoes.

When asked how much he would miss Leanne, his answer was simple: “Immensely”.

The two had divorced but remained extremely close after being together for 16 years, Paolo said.

Without her, he would never have achieved what he had, he said.

In February after many years never being able to take a break because of the business, Paolo said in light of Leanne’s illness they should get away together.

Hervey Bay's Leanne Esposito.

The two travelled to Tasmania for a week, a place Leanne had never been, and enjoyed a holiday together.

It was memories like that which he would treasure, Paolo said.

News Corp’s Deputy Regional Director for Queensland Jessica Grewal, who was Fraser Coast Chronicle Editor when Leanne worked in the newsroom as a much-loved features writer, said her former colleagues, many of whom had become close friends, were deeply saddened by her loss.

“Leanne’s bright personality, creative energy and flair for fashion brought much-needed colour to the Chronicle newsroom where she was respected for her way with words and loved for her thoughtfulness and willingness to listen and impart wisdom.

“Stylish, sincere and strong, she used her rare storytelling talent to highlight the best of the Fraser Coast as well as important causes and bravely drew on her own life experience of surviving past challenges, showing incredible resilience and rebuilding her life here in Hervey Bay.

“We extend our sincere condolences to Leanne’s family and all those who loved her and are grieving the loss of a one-of-a-kind powerhouse who will be remembered, always.”

Leanne’s funeral will be held on October 22 at 11am at Ross Funerals in Nikenbah.

If this story has raised issues for you, please phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.

MORE LOCAL NEWS:

Revealed: The Wide Bay cities where real estate is still hot

Exclusive exit poll: Early voters smash Labor, turn on Premier