Dawn Fraser in a fighting new era

Australia’s legendary, nationally treasured and endlessly courageous Olympian Dawn Fraser wants to beat her serious health complications and witness the wonder of the Brisbane Games in 2032.

Olympic swimming great Dawn Fraser. Picture: Channel 10

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Dawn Fraser has won a few races in her time. Here comes another. Australia’s legendary, nationally treasured and endlessly courageous Olympian wants to beat her serious health complications and witness the wonder of the Brisbane Games in 2032.

“I’ll be 95 then,” she says. “It’s a fight all the time, it’s a fight every day – but at least I’m doing it.”

Fraser nearly died after a fall on the driveway of her home at Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in December. Four broken ribs and a fractured hip put her intensive care for a week. Her doctor performed surgery after delivering no promises.

“He said that I could die,” ­Fraser told 10 News First. “It wasn’t a safe operation. That was the frightening part, the fact that I might die under anaesthetic. And I didn’t want to die that way. I wasn’t going to give in, especially away from my family.”

Fighters don’t come much tougher than the 87-year-old Fraser. She’s been the victim of sexual assault and domestic violence. Aged 26, she was the driver in a car crash that ended the life of her mother, Rose.

Fraser kept that a secret for nearly 60 years. Eventually, she admitted to wearing Rose’s wedding ring on the blocks for her historic victory at the 1964 Olympics, looking skywards and saying “This is for you, Mum”.

Fraser has lost 22kg since her life-threatening ordeal, called a “nightmare” by her daughter, Dawn-Lorraine. She’s grappled with depression and received a pacemaker after one of the biggest hearts in Australian sport stopped for longer than it ought.

Part of her rehabilitation and recovery includes swimming, taking her back to the pool and sport that always kept her afloat.

On her heart episode, Fraser said: “Unfortunately, I was starting to feel very faint. And I fainted. They said my heart had stopped for five seconds.”

Fraser has always been a passionate supporter of Australian swimming. She’s routinely in the stands and in full voice during major meets. In the short term, she plans to watch the likes of Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown at the world championship trials in ­Adelaide in June.

Big picture, she’d love nothing more than to be poolside at the Brisbane Games.

Fraser admitted she was more frail than ever as she sat next to Dawn-Lorraine and grandson Jackson, for the TV interview.

Jackson: “I always saw her as invincible.”

Fraser: “Did you?”

Jackson: “Yeah.”

Who didn’t?

Asked how her recovery was progressing, Fraser said: “Not too good … I’m slower and I’ve got to accept that. Doing those sorts of exercises, that I used to do when I was training, has kept me going. I think it’s very important for my health and for my family, too … I don’t think we hug one another enough … without my family, I don’t think I’d have survived.”