Woonun’s wishes were to be cremated & returned to country

On the 10th of February 2025 our father (Woonun) Wayne Williams passed suddenly. Dad was diagnosed with a non-operable, non curable advanced stage of Larynx Cancer. Dad was openly diagnosed in November 2024 & had transferred from Townsville Hospital to Cairns where he then began radiation treatment to help ease the symptoms of the tumour as the tumour was sitting up against his vocal cords. As a result of the tumour dad had a peg tube inserted into his stomach as he wasn’t able to swallow. The cancer was in advanced stages & the radiation was merely to help with symptoms. He was palliative but we were never given a timeframe & he wasn’t technically at “end of life”. We thought we had more time, he thought he had more time.

Dad came home early to Mornington island to attend the funeral of his uncle & was set to head back to cairns for his last round of radiation which was on the 18th & 19th of February.

In the last three months of life dad was trying to access his supers and organise financial support for himself to help his children pay for future expenses. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to access or even find any of his super.

Dad had traveled the country and the world showcasing his Lardil culture which he was more then proud of. Studied at AIDT now NAISDA & was later a cultural tutor for many years. His culture was so important to him.

Read NAISDA tribute here

We would love to give dad the send off that he deserves. As we would like to cremate him which was he wishes, for each child to have a part of him & the remaining ashes to be returned to Birri, his country, The expenses for cremation & sending his body to cairns is something we can’t afford. This GFM is purely to pay for his wishes to be granted! At this stage, no funding is available to cover the costs. 

Dad’s last few months of life were spent out on the mainland of Mt Isa , Townsville & Cairns. Spending time with his children & grandchildren whilst receiving treatment.

Dad yearned for his island home and his country of Birri. Fortunately the day before passing he made the trip out to country & then passed peacefully loosing his battle with cancer.

Upon dad’s death it came to our attention that dad had been diagnosed 10 years ago & had never mentioned this to anyone.

He fought & dealt with this on his own for 10 years before allowing us in, in November 2024.