Hazel Hawke (neé Hazel Masterson, born in Perth, Australia in 1929) is an Australian who has worked in social policy areas; however she is best known for her marriage to former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. More recently, she has appeared in public with her family after her diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease in order to raise awareness of the disease and surrounding issues.

Alzheimer's disease

On November 3 2003, the ABC aired an episode of Australian Story in which Hawke publically revealed that she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Her family had noticed significant short-term memory loss in 2002, leading to the diagnosis. She had been reluctant to go public about the illness she called the 'Big A', but eventually did so to publicise a fund for supporting Alzheimer's sufferers that she had jointly set up with Alzheimer's Australia .

In 2004, Hazel Flynn and Hawke's daughter Sue Pieters-Hawke published a book, Hazel's Journey: A personal experience of Alzheimer's (ISBN 1405036311), describing the previous decade of Hawke's life and the onset of Alzheimer's. At the book launch on November 1, 2004, Pieters-Hawke revealed that her mother had reached the mid-stages of the disease and was now suffering from quite severe short-term memory loss.

References

• Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2003). Australian Story - The Big 'A'.
• Stephens, Tony (Nov. 2, 2004). When love shone through the fog, The Age.