NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car’s powerful message after cancer battle
Prue Car knows the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse in Sydney well.
Her battle against stage two breast cancer started in June last year.
Prue Car’s battle against stage two breast cancer started in June last year. A Current Affair
Car’s treatment required her to step away from her high-profile job as NSW deputy premier for seven months.
It is not her first cancer fight. She beat a kidney tumour in 2022.
Now she is back at the cancer treatment centre to give back.
“I’m like a lot of breast cancer survivors, I’m on a fair bit of medication, but there’s no cancer,” Car said.
“I’m doing what I’m being told to do by my medical team.
“Yeah, and feeling like I’m recovering more and more each day, which is great.”
She has had a constant companion during her breast cancer journey – her wig.
“My stepdaughter decided to call her Barbara,” she said.
“I don’t know why a brunette bob is called Barbara, but we just ran with it.
“Sometimes humour can be really helpful.”
We first met Barbara on A Current Affair in July.
Car explained at the time she found the hair loss during treatment “really confronting”.
Barbara’s new home, the cancer treatment centre’s wig library, relies on donations of wigs that don’t come cheap. A Current Affair
“When they tell you, ‘You’ve got cancer’, one of the first things you think is, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to lose my hair’,” she said.
“I think anything that gives women power back to women in that situation is just life changing.”
Barbara’s new home, the cancer treatment centre’s wig library, relies on donations of wigs that don’t come cheap.
They can start from a few hundred dollars for synthetic to several thousand for hand-woven hair.
“A lot of people have said to me, ‘Why don’t you do something fun like go and get pink hair?’” she said.
“Maybe if I wasn’t in the job I was, maybe that’s a missed opportunity.”
But Car is not missing the chance to encourage all women to get checked.
Car’s treatment required her to step away from her high-profile job as NSW deputy premier for seven months. A Current Affair
“Women come up to me on the street now and say, ‘I had breast cancer 10, 20, 30 years ago, and now I’m fine’,” she said.
“You know, and they're very proud of that.
“It's like belonging to an amazing club that you didn't want to join in the first place, but now you're happy you're in.
“That’s why early detection is important. You want to get in, get the treatment you need and go on to thrive.”
Deborah Price is also a club member.
A routine mammogram delivered a devastating diagnosis of aggressive triple negative breast cancer after celebrating her 50th birthday.
“I got the phone call that no one wants, I’m trying not to get emotional, but, all I could do was think of my family and the fight began,” Price said.
Deborah Price is also a club member. A Current Affair
Price underwent a double mastectomy and a year of intense chemotherapy which finished just six weeks ago.
“It was daunting, it was scary, I had good days, I had really bad days,” she said.
“Recovery was hard, but I’m here, I’m still going.”
Price said there was “no doubt” early screening saved her life.
Routine mammograms are free and recommended every two years for women over the age of 50.
Screening is at record highs across the country but should be a lot higher.
Professor Megan Varlow from the NSW Cancer Institute said only 51 per cent of people who were eligible for the program have participated.
“That's a big chunk of women who are eligible for breast screen but are just not coming along,” Varlow said.
More than 40 per cent of women say they’re too busy, or that mammograms are uncomfortable.
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