NSW: Cancer surgeon posthumously honoured

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2009
NSW: Cancer surgeon posthumously honoured

SYDNEY, Aug 21 AAP - Cancer surgeon Chris O'Brien has been posthumously made an Officer
of the Order of Australia (AO) during a short and simple ceremony in Sydney.

Mr O'Brien was given the award for a lifetime of work helping cancer patients across
Australia and for establishing a new dedicated cancer facility in Sydney, which his wife,
Gail, said she hoped would make a huge impact on preventing the disease.

Mrs O'Brien spoke movingly about her husband's work, his passion for life and his compassion
for those with cancer - the disease he finally succumbed to in June, having been diagnosed
with a brain tumour in 2006.

"I'm really honoured to be here. It's just a wonderful day. It doesn't bring Chris
back but it has been a great day," Mrs O'Brien told reporters after the ceremony at the
Governor-General of Australia's house in Kirribilli.

"He'd be delighted by all this. He knew he was going to get the award but I don't think
he knew there would be something like this."

Professor O'Brien became a director of the Sydney Cancer Centre at the Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital, Sydney, in 2003.

A specialist in head and neck cancer, he went on to lobby for and secure substantial
government funding for the $1.3 billion Lifehouse Centre, a dedicated 240-bed treatment
centre at the Royal Prince Alfred, due for completion later this year.

He was also well known for appearing on Channel 9's RPA reality show.

Mrs O'Brien said the Lifehouse Centre would provide a fitting, lasting legacy for her
husband, and that the "trail-blazing" research he started would continue to aid patients.

"Lifehouse Centre will be a living legacy. The research he carried out will help so
many people. He really was a trail-blazer, he was ahead of his time," she said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who became a close friend of Prof O'Brien, and the Governor-General
Quentin Bryce were present at the ceremony.

"He made a rich, valuable and selfless contribution to Australia," Ms Bryce said.

"Australia feels indebted to him. He reached out to us all. He certainly inspired me
when I met him. We will ensure his legacy endures."

AAP mg/hn/ash

KEYWORD: OBRIEN (PIX AVAILABLE)

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