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Surprise visitor lifts spirits of a legend

Catching up: Betty Cuthbert and Dawn Fraser. Picture: Sharon Smith/The West Australian

Unlike so many of their precious moments shared with an adoring worldwide public, perhaps Dawn Fraser and Betty Cuthbert's most touching memory came tucked away in a humble dining room in an aged-care home in Mandurah this week.

Cuthbert, wheelchair-bound and now almost deaf because of her 46-year battle with multiple sclerosis, sat under a knitted rug, locked deep in her own thoughts, when suddenly her face jolted with an expression even more profound than the wide-mouthed look that became her sprinting trademark.

As her eyes fixed on a surprise visit from an approaching Fraser, they welled with tears of joy before the pair held each other in a lingering embrace. As the hug broke, Cuthbert excitedly crooned: "You came to see me."

A handful of facility staff and residents stood gobsmacked.

It was a priceless liaison between two iconic Australian champions - both in their 78th year - more than half a century after they each won Commonwealth Games gold medals in Perth in 1962.

Cuthbert has defied doctor predictions that she would be severely disabled if she ever left hospital after a brain haemorrhage in 2002.

Although the four-times Olympic gold medallist has lost much in her brutal battle with MS, Cuthbert's proud and happy demeanour remains intact and that has been a constant inspiration to one of her oldest friends.

"You talk about strength in people . . . she's got to be the strongest person I've ever known in my life," Fraser said.

"Here she is, suffering MS for 50 years, nearly, and she's still alive today.

"I get things out of Betty when I go and see her that I don't think you'd get out of anyone else because she shows strength.

"She's as deaf as a doornail but she's still got the beautiful smile and beautiful laugh and I think that says everything for a person.

"And the friendships you make in your sport are there for ever."