BREAST cancer campaigner Connie Johnson has died of cancer.
Connie's brother, actor Samuel Johnson announced her death on Friday via Facebook.
"We lost Connie today. Or, as she asked me to say, she died of cancer today," Samuel wrote on the page Love Your Sister.
"It was so beautiful. We laughed, we cried, we sang stupid songs from our childhood to her, which she loved (mostly!). I read her so many village messages, which she relished. She went so richly, and with such grace. Trust me, she was genuinely cushioned by your love, till the end.
"I'm sad and sorry to be the one to tell you this, yet at the same time, as the Chief Custodian of my sister’s legacy, I also feel extremely grateful and proud."
The campaigner's death came after she was appointed a Medal of the Order of Australia by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Thursday in recognition of her tireless work.
Samuel said Connie's eyes danced "like when we were kids" as she received the medal at a bedside ceremony in a Canberra hospice.
"She looked so alive," Samuel said. "My heart is complete."
"Afterwards, she looked at me sideways, coz (sic) she can't move her head too well, and she kept saying, in her weak and raspy voice...'Can you believe it? Can you believe it? Look what we did. We did something!'"
The Johnson siblings have raised millions for cancer research, including more than $2 million during May's Big Heart Project in May that saw a Canberra netball court become a silver sea of 5 cent coins.
Connie, 40, made the decision to end all treatment in April this year.
