Tracey O’Brien, Chief Cancer Officer and CEO of Cancer Institute NSW, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Some memorials leave you thinking about what a person achieved. Today’s State Memorial for Professor Richard Scolyer AO left me thinking about how he lived.
Richard’s achievements were immense. His work helped change the outlook for people with advanced melanoma and, after his own diagnosis with glioblastoma, he continued to push the boundaries of research for those who would come after him.
But today was not defined by a list of achievements. Through the stories shared by his family, friends and colleagues, what emerged was the essence of Richard: his warmth, humility, curiosity, humour and sheer enthusiasm for life.
I kept returning to three words: hope, compassion and courage.
Richard understood hope in the way those who work in cancer must understand it. Not as false reassurance, or optimism detached from evidence, but as a belief that the future can be changed. Hope asks another question, tests another idea and refuses to assume that today’s limits must remain tomorrow’s.
His compassion gave that ambition its purpose. For Richard, science was never an end in itself. It was about people and families. It was about giving someone more life, more time and more possibility. In sharing his own uncertain journey so openly, including its difficult and deeply human parts, he helped others feel less alone.
His courage was unmistakable. There was courage in becoming the first person to receive an experimental treatment based on the melanoma science he had helped develop. But there was also courage in allowing others to see his vulnerability, in speaking honestly when the news was difficult, and in continuing to contribute without pretending that the road was easy.
In cancer care and research, we live with uncertainty every day. People look to us for answers that science cannot always yet provide. Richard showed that we can be honest without extinguishing hope, ambitious without losing compassion, and courageous without pretending to be invulnerable.
In his final letter, Richard wrote that cancer may not define us, but our ability to empathise and have compassion for others does.
His research will continue to change lives. So too, I hope, will the example he set in how to live and lead. My thoughts are with Katie, Emily, Matthew and Lucy, and with all who loved Richard.
Vale Professor Richard Scolyer AO.”
You can also read:
Professor Richard Scolyer Dies at 59, Leaving a Legacy of Courage, Science and Cancer Innovation
