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In 2005, Nic Russell’s two-year-old daughter, Kenzie, was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer. Months later, while Kenzie was still in treatment, Nic was diagnosed with breast cancer herself. Kenzie died just after Christmas that year. She was three.

In the years since, Nic has started a children’s grief charity in her daughter’s name, campaigned for women’s access to life-saving cancer treatment, been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and, in 2022, had a heart transplant.

In this conversation, Nic tells Kate about growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, fighting to get doctors to listen, the comedian she says saved her life, and what grieving people actually need from the rest of us.

Nic Russell's memoir, Bollix: When Life Isn’t All It’s Craic’d Up To Be, is out now.

If this episode has brought anything up for you, support is available: Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au

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CREDITS:

Guest: Nic Russell

Host: Kate Langbroek

Executive Producer: Bree Player

Video, Content and Social Producer: Jess Chan

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we have recorded this podcast.