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The sporting community to honour the late Megan Dunn on August 16

The husband of a local netballer who died suddenly of pancreatic cancer in March has revealed the two big things giving him strength to “find a way to fight”.

The late Megan Dunn with husband Brad and children Maddalyn and Harper. Picture: Brad Dunn.
The late Megan Dunn with husband Brad and children Maddalyn and Harper. Picture: Brad Dunn.

Life is just about surviving right now for Geelong sportsman and father of two Brad Dunn.

It’s been just over four months since Dunn, a champion golfer, bid his final farewell to his late wife, Megan, on March 17, lovingly known as Megsy, after a tragically brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Right now, it’s about getting through every day, for his two children Harper and Maddalyn, while also putting his energy into positive things, like raising funds, creating a legacy for his late wife and remembering why she was so special.

Back in May, Brad trekked the Australian Cancer Research Foundation’s 60km – raising more than $10,000 – and now, on August 16, he’s encouraging Supersaints and Newtown & Chilwell fans to attend their GFNL game decked out in purple at St Albans Reserve.

“It’s not a bad process for how I’m trying to live my life, which is just one step after the other at the moment,” Dunn said on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s purely just survival at the moment.

“It’s purpose that gives us something to work towards.

“Trying to generate money (is a goal on August 16) but also talking about her as well, I think the story is how easily everything can get tipped upside down in your world.”

The late Megan Dunn with husband Brad and children Maddalyn and Harper. Picture: Brad Dunn.
The late Megan Dunn with husband Brad and children Maddalyn and Harper. Picture: Brad Dunn.

He said his two children remained his greatest motivation to keep fighting every day.

“They’re reason I have to get up and fight each day, and there’s a lot of days that I can’t, there’s a lot of days that they can’t,” he said.

“She’d know that we’d be hurting, but I think she’d want us to find a way to try, to fight.

“I don’t see there being any other option ... somehow you’ve got to find a way to get up and get going.

“Life is survival at the moment but I need to have something that we’re looking towards, that we can help other people with.

“I guess that’s the great thing with sporting clubs, and community, is that people do rally around you.

“What we’re going through, you do feel isolated and alone, but keeping yourself involved in community ... it’s an amazing healing process.

“And it also gets to the point where you think if people are helping, you want to find a way to help others.”

Brad and Megan had a sign writing business together, Signs on the Move in Moolap, but their world was completely up-ended in late 2024 — with very few danger signs of what loomed on the horizon.

In Moama with family in December, Megan began to feel unusually full at dinner.

“We went out for tea and she was eating rich foods and felt full-up around the ribcage,” Brad recalled.

“She said: ‘I feel like I need to vomit’.

“I said when you get back, you better get that checked.”

Brad hoped it might be lymphoma cancer, with a lesion near the head of the pancreas.

However, by late January, the family got the worst possible news, and it was too late for chemotherapy to have any affect.

“It progressed so quickly we lost her by the 17th of March,” Brad said.

The late Megan Dunn with husband Brad and children Maddalyn and Harper. Picture: Brad Dunn.
The late Megan Dunn with husband Brad and children Maddalyn and Harper. Picture: Brad Dunn.

“Barely two months, pretty much two months, from when she was diagnosed to when she passed.

“It’s been really brutal.”

Family milestones, like Maddy’s 15th birthday last Thursday – with a present, a card and a letter from her late mother – can become a trigger.

“We kind of fell in a hole for three days,” Brad said.

“Then it’s just finding a way to pull yourself out of that and go again.”

Hailing from Gordon, Megan had moved to the region roughly 25 years ago, playing netball at North Geelong, where she would win multiple premierships and be named in the club’s team of the decade.

Before a stint at East Geelong Megan would wrap up her playing career at St Albans in the E Grade in 2019, where her two children, Harper, 16, and Maddalyn, 15, now play football and netball respectively.

The late Megan Dunn died on March 17. Picture: St Albans Football Club.
The late Megan Dunn died on March 17. Picture: St Albans Football Club.

Megan was also coaching the club’s under-15 team during the summer with her team coming runners up in the grand final just a few weeks before her passing.

To honour her memory and raise funds on August 16, all footballers from under-16s up will wear purple socks while the netballers will opt for headbands and ribbons.

With the Play in Purple event aligned with Pankind, money raised will go towards early detection for the toughest common cancer.

“Survival rate’s still not great (for pancreatic cancer), but even if you have (more) time, the one thing we didn’t have is time,” he said.

“There’s a few (cancers) that are pretty bad, but usually by the time you get any kind of symptoms with it, you’re at stage four.

“We got to a point where she couldn’t even have chemotherapy (to help).”

Events such as these, including the 60km walk, has given Brad purpose in his life.

In a touching social media post, just two days after Megan’s death, Brad said his late wife had dealt with the devastating news with character, courage, strength, integrity and her morals firmly in tact.

“She is an amazing woman, and I feel privileged to call her my wife,” Brad said.

More info: playinpurple.org.au/o/st-albans-fn-cher-legacy

Originally published as The sporting community to honour the late Megan Dunn on August 16

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/the-sporting-community-to-honour-the-late-megan-dunn-on-august-16/news-story/a4bbb881b0d7bd6b67935bfa9bf3d322