Jane McGrath's legacy lives on through breastcare nurses

Lamp, The, July, 2008

When Jane McGrath began treatment for breast cancer at St George Hospital after surgery in 1997 there wasn't a lot of support for breast cancer patients.

But it was the quality of care she received that led her to set up the McGrath Foundation that would eventually fund three specialist nurses to give information and support to breastcare patients.

Breastcare nurse Rosemary Hannan has been at St George's Cancer Care Centre for the past 13 years and met Jane several times.

'She was just beautiful, absolutely beautiful,' Ms Hannan told the Sydney media.

'Jane wanted the money to go towards something that helped women,' she said.

The St George Hospital breastcare nurses are now funded by The Cancer Institute as the McGrath Foundation decided to direct funding to regional and rural areas, where there is a greater need.

The foundation now funds nurses at Albury-Wodonga on the border of NSW and Victoria, Bega and Moruya on the South Coast, and in Perth.

In July, three more nurses will begin working at Bundaberg in Queensland and at Whyalla and Port Lincoln in South Australia.