‘Bag of bones’: The heartbreaking final posts Fiona MacDonald made before losing her battle with MND

Fiona MacDonald chronicled her battle with MND, sharing details online with heart-wrenching eloquence and dignity. Read her intimate diary.

Tributes have flowed after Fiona MacDonald lost her battle with MND. Picture: Supplied

Tributes continue to flow for beloved TV star Fiona MacDonald who has lost her brave fight against Motor Neurone Disease.

The host of It’s A Knockout and the children’s show, Wombat, MacDonald, 67, passed away in Sydney this week after a three-year battle with MND.

She announced her own death on her Instagram page in a personal statement that was uploaded by her sister Kylie.

MacDonald has left behind an extraordinarily intimate and raw virtual diary of her last months on her Instagram page, with her regular posts charting her brave fight and her thoughts on the disease, the toll it was taking on her body and her incredible will and desire to hold on to life.

MacDonald knew she was dying, but in her posts she makes it clear that she wanted to get the most out of every minute she had left.

MacDonald has left behind an extraordinarily intimate and raw virtual diary of her last months on her Instagram page. Picture: Instagram

She said she used her voice-to-text app after she lost the ability to use her fingers to type. Picture: Supplied/Instagram

On May 21, using her voice to text app, she wrote of her “will to live” being strong.

“Once I thought I couldn’t live if I lost the power of speech,” she posted.

“Tears were shed when I first found myself in that dark space.

“Once I thought it would be devastating to have to use a walker, then a wheelchair. Now I love my aids and cling desperately to the fading remnants of strength in my legs.

“I consoled myself with the thought that my voice is in my fingertips, but they too are beginning to fail. My thumbs and pointers are weak creatures. Only three fingers are still agile (including the rudely defiant middle one).

“It’s amazing what you will do to survive when you hit the crunch times.

“Even when death is inevitable, most of us don’t want to miss one more hug from the people we love, one more beautiful sunrise; one more of the trillion things that bring a little glimmer of joy. Just knowing you’ll open your eyes one more time. The will to live is strong.”

Fiona MacDonald and Billy J.Smith, Cameron Daddo from the 1980s TV game show It's a Knockout. Picture: Supplied

An update on July 28 told of “a harsh reality check” she had encountered.

“There’s not a single part of me that wants to die, but I am dying, millimetre by millimetre,” she wrote.

“Sometimes it takes all my strength to struggle through the normal events of a quiet day.”

Watching the Paris Olympics brought her great enjoyment leading her to post on July 31: “While I can also no longer drink a coffee, I can still enjoy the rich aroma, still imagine that first mouthful dancing over my taste buds and ringing bells for my neurones to rise and shine!

“Feeling perkier now my gut has calmed down. Loving the Olympic action in Paris.”

On August 24 she wrote that she was “fading.”

“The world is still turning and some days I really resent the fact that I’m fading,” she posted.

“Doesn’t matter how hard I fight, every day I see another change. Today I realised I can’t move my eyebrows anymore. #fumnd

“I’m lucky that I live in such a beautiful place and that I can still cruise around in my wheelchair, see things that make me laugh and hang out with people I love.”

MacDonald wrote how there was ‘not a single part of her that wanted to die, but she was dying, millimetre by millimetre’. Picture: Supplied/Instagram

In a tender and emotional post on September 7 MacDonald wrote of how MND “steals away pieces of me” and how she was losing her “tether to earth.”

“I had to buy some new clothes this week as I’ve hit 47 kilos and my old more curvy wardrobe doesn’t fit. I’m trying hard to battle my gut issues but feel like I might end up melting out of existence at the rate I’m going,” she wrote.

“As MND steals away pieces of me I’m losing my gravity and my tether to earth, I feel like a bright balloon that might suddenly waft away into the sky.

“In my dreams I remember the lost treasures; shouting with laughter, leaping into the ocean, running and hugging my boys. I’m still here, still grateful to be surrounded by my little village, not going anywhere just yet.”

Fiona MacDonald with her sister Jacki MacDonald (former Hey Hey It's Saturday star) in late September 2024. Picture: Instagram

On Wednesday this week, October 2, she had her sister Kylie and her sons Harry and Rafe by her side.

“I’ve officially reached ‘bag of bones’ status on the scales, so everything is very effortful for me. Interspersing visits with time in bed – it’s how you have to roll with MND,” she posted.

Then on Thursday MacDonald’s heartbreaking message from heaven was uploaded onto her Instagram by her sister, Kylie.

It was a dignified, touching, raw and emotional final goodbye from a brave fighter who had brought so much fun to TV viewers young and old during her showbiz career.

Originally published as ‘Bag of bones’: The heartbreaking final posts Fiona MacDonald made before losing her battle with MND