Latest news with #oesophagealcancer
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Uruguay's José Mujica, world's 'poorest president', dies
Former Uruguayan President José Mujica, known as "Pepe", has died at the age of ex-guerrilla who governed Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 was known as the world's "poorest president" because of his modest President Yamandú Orsi announced his predecessor's death on X, writing: "thank you for everything you gave us and for your deep love for your people."The politician's cause of death is not known but he had been suffering from oesophageal cancer. Because of the simple way he lived as president, his criticism of consumerism and the social reforms he promoted - which, among other things, meant Uruguay became the first country to legalise the recreational use of marijuana - Mujica became a well-known political figure in Latin America and global popularity is unusual for a president of Uruguay, a country with just 3.4 million inhabitants where his legacy has also generated some fact, even though many tended to see Mujica as someone outside the political class, that was not the said his passion for politics, as well as for books and working the land, was passed on to him by his mother, who raised him in a middle-class home in Montevideo, the capital a young man, Mujica was a member of the National Party, one of Uruguay's traditional political forces, which later became the centre-right opposition to his the 1960s, he helped set up the Tupamaros National Liberation Movement (MLN-T), a leftist urban guerrilla group that carried out assaults, kidnappings and executions, although he always maintained that he did not commit any by the Cuban revolution and international socialism, the MLN-T launched a campaign of clandestine resistance against the Uruguayan government, which at the time was constitutional and democratic, although the left accused it of being increasingly this period, Mujica was captured four times. On one of those occasions, in 1970, he was shot six times and nearly died. He escaped from prison twice, on one occasion through a tunnel with 105 other MLN-T prisoners, in one of the largest escapes in Uruguayan prison the Uruguayan military staged a coup in 1973, they included him in a group of "nine hostages" who they threatened to kill if the guerrillas continued their the more than 14 years he spent in prison during the 1970s and 1980s, he was tortured and spent most of that time in harsh conditions and isolation, until he was freed in 1985 when Uruguay returned to used to say that during his time in prison, he experienced madness first hand, suffering from delusions and even talking to day he was freed was his happiest memory, he says: "Becoming president was insignificant compared to that." From guerrilla to president A few years after his release, he served as a lawmaker, both in the Chamber of Representatives and in the Senate, the country's lower and upper houses 2005, he became minister in the first government of the Frente Amplio, the Uruguayan leftist coalition, before becoming Uruguay's president in was 74 years old at the time, and, to the rest of the world, still election marked an important moment for the Latin American left, which was already strong on the continent at that time. Mujica became leader alongside other left-wing presidents such as Luis Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil and Hugo Chávez in Mujica governed in his own way, demonstrating pragmatism and audacity on several occasions, political commentators say. During his administration, amid a fairly favourable international context, the Uruguayan economy grew at an average annual rate of 5.4%, poverty was reduced, and unemployment remained also drew global attention for the social laws passed by parliament during those years, such as the legalisation of abortion, the recognition of same-sex marriage, and state regulation of the marijuana in office, Mujica rejected moving into the presidential residence (a mansion), as heads of state around the world usually he remained with his wife - politician and former guerrilla Lucía Topolansky - in their modest home on the outskirts of Montevideo, with no domestic help and little combined with the fact that he always dressed casually, that he was often seen driving his light blue 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and gave away a large portion of his salary, led some media outlets to call him "the world's poorest president".But Mujica always rejected that title: "They say I'm the poorest president. No, I'm not," he told me in a 2012 interview at his home. "Poor are those who want more [...] because they're in an endless race."Despite Mujica preaching austerity, his government did significantly increase public spending, widening the fiscal deficit and leading his opponents to accuse him of was also criticised for failing to reverse the growing problems in Uruguayan education, despite having promised that education would be a top priority for his unlike other leaders in the region, he was never accused of corruption or of undermining his country's the end of his administration, Mujica had a high domestic popularity rating (close to 70%) and was elected senator, but also spent part of his time travelling the world after he stepped down as president."So what it is that catches the world's attention? That I live with very little, a simple house, that I drive around in an old car? Then this world is crazy because it's surprised by [what is] normal," he reflected before leaving office. Mujica retired from politics in 2020 though he remained a central figure in political heir, Yamandú Orsi, was elected president of Uruguay in November 2024 and his group within the Frente Amplio obtained the largest number of parliamentary seats since the country's return to year, Mujica announced he had cancer and references to his age and the inexorable proximity of death became more frequent - but he always accepted the final outcome as something natural, without the last interview he gave the BBC in November last year, he said: "One knows that death is inevitable. And perhaps it's like the salt of life."
ABC News
11-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Firefighter with terminal cancer wants to change presumptive compensation rules to help others
Simon Lund has lived his entire adult life in uniform. After a stint in the navy cut short by a knee injury, the 56-year-old had his first shifts as a volunteer firefighter with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in 1998. He loved it so much, he never left and spent the next 25 years working as a CFA senior technical field officer on some of the biggest fire emergencies Victoria has ever seen. "I do love my job. It's been great in the fact that I've been able to meet so many good people," Simon says. But 12 months ago, Simon and his wife Tracie, a Latrobe City councillor who has dedicated her life to helping others through Foodbank and the local Neighbourhood House, were delivered news that turned their lives upside down. Simon first started feeling unwell in March last year, getting indigestion and having difficulty swallowing. Tests with local doctors in Traralgon were inconclusive, so he went to Melbourne for a second opinion. A diagnostic scope revealed that Simon had stage 4 oesophageal cancer. Doctors have attributed the diagnosis to his exposure to carcinogenic materials. "You never think it's going to happen to you," he says. 'It's like being slapped in the face with a wet fish. It was pretty hard. I knew as soon as the surgeon said that, that was it." Tracie recalls the agony of the long drive home from Box Hill Hospital to Traralgon to tell the couple's three adult children the life-changing news. "We were trying to find the words to tell our kids," she says. "I was just so broken. I just could not get my head around what they had just said to us, what that actually meant." In his technical role with the CFA, Simon worked on major fires across the state, including the fatal Black Saturday and Black Summer bushfires. His job was to set up all of the gear required at district headquarters and command centres on fire sites, including at the toxic Hazelwood Mine fire in 2014. But the long-term health implications of what he was being exposed to never crossed his mind. Simon says incident control staff were provided with standard PS2 masks and PPE gear, while firefighters who went down into the mine were issued with breathing apparatus. "I can remember walking into the training building, and there's a corridor that's probably about 20 metres long, and I couldn't see halfway down the corridor," he says. The Lund family initially kept Simon's diagnosis private, keeping their minds busy with work. Overwhelmed with feelings of grief and dread, they navigated the bleak practicalities of treatment plans, palliative care, updating wills, and sorting out superannuation. The Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 ensures Victorian firefighters who are diagnosed with certain cancers are entitled to compensation. His treating oncologist found there was a "sufficient probability" that Simon's exposure to smoke, fumes, ash and dust from fires, including chemical fires and significant coal mine fires, had "at least partly contributed to his risk of developing gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma". But as he was employed in an IT role, Simon is not eligible for presumptive rights. "With presumptive legislation, it's presumed that you have the cancer and that someone else has to prove that you don't, whereas with WorkCover it's the opposite," he says. His initial WorkCover claim was rejected and, as his health declined, Simon found himself burdened with the administrative nightmare of having to prove that he had physically attended fires and been exposed to carcinogenic risk. That involved gathering evidence such as 25 years' worth of photos, pay slips, call-out records, and information on fire conditions to support his second WorkCover claim. It was a traumatic and exhausting exercise that cost Simon and Tracie much of the precious time they had left together. Finally, with the help of lawyers, Simon's WorkCover claim was accepted. But the challenges he encountered in proving his claim would motivate the Lund family to campaign for presumptive legislation to be expanded to include professional, technical, and administrative CFA employees. "I don't want anyone to go through that when they should be spending time with their family and their friends and their colleagues and trying to enjoy the last of whatever timeframe they've got," Simon says. A spokesperson for the state government says it will continue to monitor whether Victoria's presumptive compensation legislation appropriately reflects the increased risks some emergency service workers can face due to their service. Last month, Simon was presented with a National Service Medal from the Governor-General for his service with the CFA. The Lunds have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and offers of support from their Latrobe Valley community since Simon's diagnosis. "Some days we are OK, sometimes we're really focused, almost like warriors, thinking we're going conquer this, we're going to change the legislation, everything is going to be alright," Simon says. "And then there are other days where we physically can't get out of bed." Simon has been particularly humbled by the people who have reached out in his final months to tell him what he means to them. "The only way our family can make any sense of it is to channel that anger, that despair, the fear and the dread into something positive to try and make some change for all the staff that will come after us," Tracie says. Simon's gruelling rounds of cancer treatment have ended now. He is in palliative care. But earlier this year, he fulfilled a lifelong dream, purchasing a Holden SS Crewman ute, which he'll take out for a spin again when he's up to it. "[Simon's] idea of a date was to get me in the ute and drive down to the ice cream shop at Traralgon and buy me ice cream. So we would really like to be able to do that," Tracie says. On advice from a friend, Tracie and Simon also indulged in booking a "yes" holiday, making lasting memories with the kids on a trip to New Zealand. During the holiday, Simon, a former naval officer, enjoyed a bumpy dinner cruise on rough seas, while the rest of the family groaned with seasickness. "We weren't undercover, it was absolutely freezing, the boat is going up and down, and I'm going, 'I'm absolutely loving this!'" Simon says.
