John Hedigan, the Melbourne music therapist who has worked with Something for Kate, Clare Bowditch and Darren Middleton, has succumbed to his battle with brain cancer.
John was diagnosed in 2015 but continued his work as a music therapist in palliative care where he helped patients in tough times using music to combat addiction, trauma, transition, and palliative care.
John had been a member of the Something for Kate touring band after having worked with Clare Bowditch. John introduced Clare to her husband Marty Brown in 1997. They formed the band Red Raku and recruited Marty who married Clare. The couple now have three children.
In a post at the Something for Kate Facebook page it is announced:
Our dear friend John Hedigan left us last night having lived with brain cancer since 2015.
The three of us feel incredibly lucky to have shared the stages, backstage rooms, hotel rooms, long late-night drives and early airport rushes with such an astoundingly talented, kind, thoughtful, generous, passionate and beautiful human.
When John first revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer Clare, Darren and Something for Kate put on two shows in Melbourne to raise funds for his treatment.
Many of you will have seen firsthand how much John gave onstage as a musician. He also gave so much to others in his work as a musical therapist in the Palliative Care Unit at the Austin Hospital’s Olivia Newton John Cancer Wellness Centre. John received the most amazing and loving care from these people, many of whom he worked with, and we know he would want us to mention that you can make a donation to ONJ Cancer Research Centre to support their invaluable work if you would like to. And what better way to do so than by contributing to the #dryjuly campaign of our buddy Clare Bowditch who first introduced us to the man himself all those years ago. https://www.dryjuly.com/users/clare-bowditch
Clare said in a statement that John was, “a leader and an absolutely unrepeatable miracle of a man. One of the very best. Unapologetically true, to the end. Stubborn as a ram. You could be an absolute pain in the arse and looking back now I appreciate every little push back. I love that you cared enough to do that”.
