Celebrities pay tribute to Connie Johnson

Connie Johnson’s passing has led to a flood of tributes for the cancer research fundraiser.

The tireless campaigner and sister of actor Samuel Johnson died in a Canberra hospice on Friday afternoon, aged 40.

Shortly after her death was announced on the Love Your Sister Facebook page, tributes began to pour in from a raft of famous faces.

The Project co-host Carrie Bickmore, a cancer campaigner herself who interviewed Connie for the last time in May, told followers on Instagram: “Connie Johnson. What a woman.”

Similarly, ABC presenter Leigh Sales wrote on Twitter: "Connie Johnson: what a fighter."

Presenter Melissa Doyle paid an emotional tribute to the mother-of-two, as did actress Rebecca Gibney.

"Rest in peace, brave beautiful soul. #ConnieJohnson," Melissa captioned a photo on Instagram, adding: "The world is better for having had you in it."

"Rest in Peace Connie. And thank you for sharing your journey with us all," Rebecca wrote on Instagram.

Meanwhile, Richard Wilkins is understood to have led the tributes to Connie during the Olivia Newton John Gala dinner in Melbourne on Friday night, according to the Herald Sun.

The Love Your Sister Facebook page announced her passing in a post written by her doting brother Sam.

"We lost Connie today. Or, as she asked me to say, she died of cancer today," he began. 

"It was so beautiful. We laughed, we cried, we sang stupid songs from our childhood to her, which she loved (mostly!). 

"I read her so many village messages, which she relished. She went so richly, and with such grace. Trust me, she was genuinely cushioned by your love, till the end."

Connie’s death from terminal breast cancer comes a day after she was awarded the Order Of Australia medal by Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, in her hospice bed.

"She has become one of this nation's foremost advocates of the importance of early detection and the need to find a cure."

Connie was first diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 12, after complaining of a pain in her leg.

After winning that battle, at 22, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer.

Again beating the disease, Connie went on to have two healthy sons - Willoughby and Hamilton - before being diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in her early 30s.

Bravely fighting the illness for seven years, it’s during this time Connie and her brother began the Love Your Sister Village as she campaigned for a cure.

However, the disease had spread to multiple parts of her body and in April this year, the mother-of-two decided to stop all treatment.