Australian TV host Fiona MacDonald, known for her work on shows including It’s A Knockout and the children’s program Wombat, has died aged 67 of motor neurone disease (MND).
MacDonald was diagnosed with MND in November 2021, a terminal degenerative disorder that causes people to lose the use of their limbs and ability to speak, swallow and breathe. There is no cure; those with MND die, on average, 27 months after diagnosis.
On Thursday, MacDonald’s sister posted a written statement from MacDonald herself to the former TV host’s Instagram to announce the death.
“Farewell my friends. My sister Kylie is posting this because I have left the building – Hopefully I’m looking down from a cloud. Last night brought an end to a very tough few months. Was very peaceful the boys and Kylie stayed with me to say goodbye. While I’ve never wanted to die, the thought of leaving my tortured body was a relief,” she wrote.
She described her last months as “tough”, detailing the problems she had been having with tube feeding and food intolerances.
“I have been slowly starving, growing weaker and weaker. I’ve also developed terrible back pain because my muscles aren’t supporting my frame,” she wrote.
She entered palliative care “after much soul-searching”, she said.
“The black humour that served me well through the first years of this journey turned to despair … When you love life as much as I do, it takes a great deal of courage to make choices that lead to farewell,” she said, adding: “I carry your love and laughter with me and hope you’ll remember mine.”
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MacDonald was known for her warm, bubbly presenting style, hosting the children’s show Wombat with a wise-cracking hand puppet named Agro.
Jenny Woodward, who worked with MacDonald on Wombat, remembered her as “one of those people that lit up the room when she walked in”, telling the ABC: “She had a cheeky sense of humour and an infectious laugh and always had a keen eye for a story.”
Jamie Dunn, the puppeteer behind Agro, told 4BC: “It is confronting that life is so cruel at times … All I remember Fiona for is laughing.”
In the 80s MacDonald hosted It’s a Knockout, an Australian version of the popular British gameshow that sees contestants compete in athletic timed tasks. Around the same time, her older sister Jacki MacDonald was co-hosting Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
After It’s a Knockout, MacDonald stopped working in television and entered the wine industry.
In early 2021, she began slurring and tripping. By the end of the year, she was diagnosed with MND.
“I was blown away. There’s no family history of MND. It was a big shock. Initially I withdrew. I couldn’t talk with anyone about having this terminal disease. My world came crashing down,” she said in an episode of Australian Story dedicated to her story last year.
When she revealed her diagnosis, she raised A$223,000 for research into the disease by taking part in a road trip around Australia with her sister Kylie. She told the Sunday Herald at the time that she “didn’t want to sit around waiting for the inevitable” and wanted to have “my last grand adventure”.
By the time the Australian Story episode was filmed, she was unable to speak and used a computer to communicate.
“This is not a disease for the faint-hearted. There is no treatment, no cure … stealing the power of all muscles inch by inch until you can’t walk, can’t hold hands, can’t talk, swallow or breathe,” she said. “Then you die.”
She is survived by her sisters Kylie and Jacki, and two sons Harry and Rafe.