Susie Maroney announces she has cancer as she fears for children: ‘They need me’

SWIM legend Susie Maroney has made a shock announcement, she is battling cancer and has opened up about her life-changing diagnosis.

Matthew Mitcham, Susie Maroney, Alan Jones, Perry Cross, Jillian Skinner and Geoff Huegill

• Susie Maroney finds love with former rugby player Perry Cross
• Susie Maroney’s husband Darren May charged with AVO breach

SWIM legend Susie Maroney has made a shock announcement — she is battling cancer and has opened up about her life-changing diagnosis.

The 41-year-old is scheduled for surgery at Kareena Private Hospital in Sydney, where a nine-centimetre long incision is expected to be made to remove a malignant melanoma.

Matthew Mitcham, Susie Maroney, Alan Jones, Perry Cross, Jillian Skinner and Geoff Huegill

Speaking to New Idea, Maroney said she feared for her children Paris, 7, Capri, 5, and River, 3.

“They’re so young and they need me,” she told the publication.

“I’m their primary carer and if anything happens to me.

“I was crying when I heard those words, because this is something you can die from.”

Maroney, who is the partner of former rugby player Perry Cross, 40, said she hoped all the cancer would be removed.

“Hopefully, they will get all the melanoma out,” she said.

OTHER NEWS: PENSIONER’S THUG ATTACKER LEFT HIM $100

Susie Maroney in 1999.

“If they don’t, I will have to have further tests and scans to see if it has spread anywhere else in my body.

Maroney said Cross, whom she met at a charity dinner in 2014, was supportive.

“He supports me through everything, and this is no different,” she said.

“We’ve been talking about our future together. This is just a little hurdle we have to get past first.”

Susie Maroney during her world record 24-hour swim at Carss Park pool