NSW: McGrath returns to public eye

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2008
NSW: McGrath returns to public eye

SYDNEY, Aug 16 AAP - Australian cricket legend Glenn McGrath has made his first public
appearance eight weeks after his wife died of breast cancer.

McGrath chatted with fans for an hour at the signing of his book, Line And Strength,
in Sydney on Friday, a Fairfax report said.

The former fast bowler accepted kind words and shared cricket wisdom with the fans.

"The people were very nice," he said. "A lot of them passed on their best wishes to
me and I appreciated that," he said.

"The reaction to Jane's death is a true indication of how people felt about her. She
was an inspiration to so many.

"It is hard though. When people say they're sorry for what happened, it's nice, I know
they're being kind, but it brings it all back."

Citing old age, McGrath told fans his cricketing days were over. He later told the
newspaper he thought of Jane every day and would make his children -- James, 8, and Holly,
6 -- the focus of his life.

They were the "miracles" doctors warned he and his wife may not be able to have because
of the side effects of the treatment needed to fight the cancer.

After his English-born wife's June 25 funeral, McGrath and the children went bush for
three weeks to his outback property past Bourke, in deep west NSW, he said.

It was the place where, in 1997, his wife resolved to beat cancer after initially saying
she'd rather die than have a mastectomy.

McGrath said the public outpouring of grief reflected the wonderful work Jane did after
establishing the McGrath Foundation. It pays the wages for breast care nurses at metropolitan
and rural hospitals.

AAP rs/imc

KEYWORD: MCGRATH

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