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Carrie Bickmore's on-air breakdown during interview with mum

An on-air interview took an emotional turn for radio and television presenter Carrie Bickmore as she interviewed a mum of two.

During a broadcast of Hit FM’s Carrie and Tommy show on Tuesday afternoon, the pair heard from Hobart woman, Sarah McNees, whose four-year-old son George had been battling brain cancer since he was 11-months-old.

The mum and her family had relocated to Melbourne to be closer to specialist treatment for the little boy who, according to Ms McNess, had never known “a life any different” from having cancer.

Tommy Little and Carrie Bickmore.
Co-host Tommy Little looked on concerned while Carrie Bickmore became visibly upset during an interview with a mum whose four-year-old son had brain cancer. Source: YouTube / Hit FM

“It’s something that you have no idea what it’s going to be like until you’re in the world of treatment,” the mum said.

“We’ve had to relocate [for his treatment] on more than one occasion, we’ve had to leave our family and our friends and our support network, our jobs. It’s definitely been the biggest challenge of my life and my husband’s.”

As the mum went into detail about the physical toll her son’s aggressive treatment had had on the little boy, Bickmore became visibly upset.

“It really knocks him around when he’s on active treatment … It’s definitely very challenging as a parent to see your child’s personality completely change, which I find happens when he’s on treatment,” Ms McNess said.

“We don’t really know what’s ahead of us … we’re ultimately hoping this gives our son more time with us.”

Bickmore, who started the charity Beanies 4 Brain Cancer after losing her first husband to the incurable disease, couldn’t stop her voice shaking as she spoke.

“One of the main purposes of my foundation, Sarah, is to help develop treatments like this because as you said there is no cure currently, but new, effective treatments are coming on board all the time, and then that then allows more time with our loved ones and hopefully in that time we can find a cure for our loved ones,” Bickmore said.

Ms McNess and her family had recently relocated to Melbourne in order for their son to undergo a trial therapy but she was returning to her home state of Tasmania to participate in the Point to Pinnacle –– known as the “world’s toughest half-marathon” –– for Beanies 4 Brain Cancer.

Bickmore and co-host Tommy Little are also running in the half-marathon and have been raising funds and awareness for her brain cancer charity in the lead-up to race.

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