Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin had an illustrious international career even though it came late in his 30s. The right-hander became a regular in the team following the retirement of the legendary Adam Gilchrist in 2008.
However, during a recent interview with the cricket.com.au regarding his newly launched autobiography - The Family's Keeper, Haddin revealed how he kept his international career going despite his daughter's battle against cancer as a 1-year-old.
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Haddin stated that he and his wife Karina chose to keep their daughter, Mia’s illness a secret when she was diagnosed with cancer in early 2012. He claimed that even his teammates had no idea about what he and his family were going through during that period.
However, his desire to inspire people made him reveal all in his new book. He said, "At the start, we were really hesitant about doing the book. We're pretty private people and what we're going through with Mia, we tend to deal with those things as a family behind closed doors."
"But talking about the way we wanted the book to be perceived, we decided it was really good to do. In some way, hopefully, it can make it easier for another family, and touch someone who's going through a similar experience and show that they're not alone and make their journey a bit easier," he added.
Haddin went on to say that it was difficult for him to recount the series of incidents in the book as he struggled to re-live the experience. However, he stated that he wanted his daughter to know about what she went through when she grew up. He said, "Mia doesn't remember a lot of what happened for the first few months of her treatment. So it's an opportunity for her when she gets older to help explain to her what she went through and what the family and other boys went through."
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Haddin said that he was enjoying his retirement by spending time with his family, especially his daughter, Mia. "Mia's good, she's just a normal six-year-old now. The treatment has gone to plan, she's cancer free and is enjoying as normal a life as she can. She's enjoying school, she enjoys swimming and reading books and just living a normal life," he emphasised.
"There'll be hard days moving forward, but we've just got to take it for what it is ... everything is going in the right direction at the moment," Haddin concluded.
(Video courtesy: Cricket Rules 2013)
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