Belinda Emmett dies (too young) at 32

ACTRESS Belinda Emmett was surrounded by family and friends yesterday morning when she lost her eight-year battle with cancer.

Emmett’s husband, Rove McManus, was with his wife, 32, when she died just after dawn at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital.

St Vincent’s nursing supervisor Ian Ainsworth said Emmett’s family left the hospital at about 7am yesterday. “There’s a lot of very upset people,” he said. “As you can imagine they are very distressed.”

Emmett’s manager, Liz Morrissey, said no one close to Emmett, including McManus, could believe she was gone.

“It was just the belief, she just kept on fighting,” Morrissey said. “That was her way of handling it.”

A family friend who had spoken to McManus after Emmett’s death said: “We knew this may happen, but there was still a sense of shock, of suddenness.”

He said McManus was drained with exhaustion and sadness, because the entire family “hadn’t had time to sleep” in the past few days.

When Emmett entered hospital on Monday, McManus made an urgent flight back from Brisbane, where he had been interviewing rock band U2, to be with his wife.

“He flew straight back and was with her the whole time, they were only doing tests at that stage,” the family friend said.

Knowing his wife had to undergo further tests, McManus nearly cancelled his television show on Tuesday night but returned to Melbourne with 20 minutes to spare before going to air.

“But he couldn’t have known,” the friend said. “At that stage no one had a real sense of it.”

McManus was back at his wife’s bedside on Wednesday morning. He was said to be inconsolable yesterday.

Network Ten management con- firmed Rove Live would not air this week. The program may go on hold for a time.

Emmett was diagnosed with breast cancer at 24 (she met McManus a year later), but after recovering from the disease she received shocking news in 2001 that she had a secondary form of cancer in her bones.

Since then the actor and singer has undergone an extensive range of medical treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and followed strict natural health guidelines.

Emmett was overjoyed when she and McManus had an intimate and romantic wedding ceremony at the Mary Immaculate Church in Sydney in January last year.

The pair, who fell in love after meeting at the opening of Fox Studios in Sydney, had described their partnership as “true love”.

Emmett had earlier spoken out about her husband’s staunch support during her long cancer fight: “Rove’s fantastic. He doesn’t flinch. He’s incredible, absolutely incredible.”

Emmett has made a number of public appearances this year, including the Logie Awards and the 50th anniversary celebrations for television in September.

Her last appearance was at the ARIA Awards in Sydney a fortnight ago, although she avoided photographs on the red carpet.

Liz Morrissey said Emmett would always be remembered for her dignity and courage.

“She was a huge inspiration to so many people and she still is,” Morrissey said.

“Just her graciousness and the way she handled herself, people will always remember it.”