mercredi 9 août 2023

CHARITY WALK

Back charity walk, says Olivia’s family

The Chronicle
10 Aug 2023
Walkforwellness.com.au.

Olivia Newton-John’s family has urged Australians to back the icon’s annual charity walk for people with cancer as they mark a year to the day since the entertainment icon’s death.

Chloe Lattanzi, Olivia’s only child, will be in Australia for Olivia’s Walk of Wellness in October, the Grease star’s niece Tottie Goldsmith confirmed.

In an interview with Sunrise, Ms Goldsmith said the first anniversary of Olivia’s death was “mind-boggling”.

“I’ve been getting text messages from family, friends, family in America, and we are all just kind of grappling with it still, it’s sort of like she is here and then she is not,” the former Chantoozies singer said.

“They feel like they’re around you, and they feel like they’re with you, but you can’t reach out to them, and I can’t believe it’s a year, it’s mindboggling that it was a year ago.”

Sponsorships and donations from the walk fund evidencebased wellness therapies at the ONJ Centre that help ease the side effects of cancer treatment and support people with cancer emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Ms Goldsmith said the walk was Olivia’s “legacy, this was what was really, deeply important to her”. She confirmed Chloe would be travelling to Melbourne for this year’s event.

“Chloe is going to be here, so we’re going to be holding hands and the family and that will help fill that gap, but it’s beautiful putting grief into purpose, it really is and I think that’s what got me through her passing last year was having this purpose driving me, and it still is and it always will,” she said.

In an interview with Stellar magazine, Chloe opened up about how she planned to mark the first anniversary of her mother’s death.

“I’m going to be spending the day with a mother figure, going to do the things that my mum liked to do. When I think about the day, it quite honestly just shatters me. That’s the truth. It shatters me. But I know that she’s guiding me, and she’s with me,” she said.

Olivia passed away peacefully at her ranch in Southern California after a long battle with breast cancer.

Olivia’s Walk For Wellness, which will mark its 10th year on October 8, will be held at Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens.