Mother of the Australian of the Year reflects on family, faith, and raising 11 children
(L-R) Anthony, Terry, Neale and Chris Daniher
When Neale Daniher was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2013, he was given less than three years to live. Yet, twelve years later, the former AFL legend defies the odds, leading an unwavering campaign against what he calls “a beast of a disease.”
As co-founder and patron of Fight MND, Neale’s relentless determination to raise awareness and fund research has earned him the honour of being named 2025 Australian of the Year, cementing his legacy as a beacon of hope and strength in the fight against MND.
When Neale Daniher was young, his mother, Edna, dreamed of a religious calling for her son.
“I wanted him to be a priest,” the 90-year-old recalled. “I was overjoyed when he received a scholarship to the lovely big boarding school—St Patrick’s College in Goulburn.”
The dream was short-lived.
“It got quickly dashed when I got a letter saying he had a girlfriend,” she said with a soft chuckle.
“I thought to myself, oh dear, that didn’t quite work out.”
Sitting in the garden of her Ungarie home—the same house where she raised eleven children with her husband Jim—Edna reflects on a different kind of calling. In January, from that very spot, she watched as Neale was named Australian of the Year.
“That was beautiful. I really thought he would get it, but when it came through, it was lovely and well deserved, we thought,” she said.
“We know what he has gone through, and he has worked so hard and raised all that money.”
Edna said everyone had known Neale was bright – right from when he was young.
“Sr. Colleen was here at our little convent school, and she could see he was smart, so we got him into the scholarship for St Pat’s in Year 7,” she said.
“I think I cried all the way from Goulburn to Yass non-stop when we dropped this little boy off to this big school.”
Neale soon settled, developing a strong sense of resilience and a drive to get involved in the community around him.
Chris and Edna Daniher
“That’s why when he got the jolly disease, he wasn’t just going to sit back and put up with it,” Edna said.
“He wanted to do something. He wanted to help. Even now, when he can’t eat, he can’t drink, he can’t speak, he uses his little device to say, ‘I’m having a whale of a time, Mum.’
He doesn’t let those things worry him.”
Neale’s younger brother Chris said the kids – four boys and seven girls – had loved living in Ungarie.
“We weren’t rich, but we had each other,” Edna said.
“I never had any trouble with my 11. I fed them, put them out to play and then they slept. There were no phones or televisions or anything when my children were growing up, so they were all out playing sport and that was the making of them, I think.”
“It is amazing what she has done,” Chris said.
“She would be up early to get us all ready for church at 7.30am. What time did you have to wake up, Mum?”
“Oh, around 4am if I had a baby at the time,” Edna replied nonchalantly.
“I would want to bath the baby before taking it to church. I am lucky, because I was healthy and it was easy enough to do everything. All I wanted to do when I got married was have a big family, and thank God, that God let me have that. And they all get on so well that’s the really beautiful part. Eleven children, 35 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren. I feel I have been very blessed.”
One of Edna’s favourite memories is when all four Daniher brothers – Terry, Anthony, Neale and Chris – played together in a State of Origin match in May 1990.
“Oh, that was a dream come true for me. It was the loveliest thing, all of them playing for NSW,” she said.
Edna on her wedding day
“It was the wettest, wettest night that you could ever be playing sport in, and we beat Victoria, and oh, that was the most joy with all four of them playing. Coming from a tiny town like this, it was just incredible.”
The brothers played together on just one other occasion, taking to the field with the Essendon Bombers on 1 September of the same year and making history as the first quartet of brothers to play for the same team in a single AFL game.
It was Neale’s final game.
“We are just so proud of everything he has done, and now this recognition through the Australian of the Year award,” Chris said.
“Not many people could do what he has done or walk in his shoes. But I saw him two weekends ago, and he is still happy as a beaver, going 100 miles an hour, cracking jokes, and writing his third book. He is going for his life.”