I love you all - Sonia Farah's deathbed gesture to the family she adored
KNOWING time was short, Robbie Farah had just one last question. "Mum ... do you love me?" he asked.
Silence extended for several minutes before the reply came. "I love you all," she said.
Those were Sonia Farah's last words. Whispered to Farah and his four siblings at Concord Hospital last Sunday, they were also her final stand of an eight-month battle against pancreatic cancer.
Over the next two nights, the family was overwhelmed with grief as they accepted tributes from well-wishers at St Joseph's Maronite Catholic Church in Croydon.
But yesterday was something else. Almost 1000 mourners - including all of Farah's teammates from Wests Tigers - flocked to the parish to pay their respects.
In a demonstration of how deeply Sonia's story had resonated, they came from all quarters.
Exactly a week after they marvelled at Farah's record-breaking 63 Origin tackles, Blues coach Ricky Stuart and skipper Paul Gallen drove from Cronulla.
South Sydney sent a busload of players from Redfern to support Farah's older brother Eddie, their club physiotherapist. And Premier Barry O'Farrell joined fellow Tigers diehard Dawn Fraser within a sombre throng that simply couldn't be contained by the church.
But even from outside the sentiment wasn't lost as the eulogy - split evenly between the Farah children - was broadcast over loudspeakers.
A restaurateur outside of football, Farah described his mother's homemade delicacies as "food for our souls"."She was the epitome of selflessness," he added.
"Before a game she wouldn't divulge the extent of her suffering, because she didn't want us to suffer."
Since the diagnosis brought him home from Kangaroos duty in England last November, Farah has done everything to ease that suffering.
He researched diets and exercise regimens to compliment the chemotherapy. He nursed her on the lounge and sacrificed holidays to stay at the family's Campsie home.
Such devotion - and Sonia's courage - gave the family more time than others who've been confronted with the uncompromising illness.
They were blessed with last Christmas and then Sonia's 63rd birthday in April.
And then came Farah's incredible Origin feat that also doubled as the last match she ever saw him play.
It was his finest personal hour and she watched it from the same hospital bed where she said goodbye.
"Mum has, and always will be, an inspiration to us," Farah said.
