Huge show of support for ‘Deano’

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in radio – or in life – who’s as universally loved and respected as Deane Lester.

So much so, a Go Fund Me page – set up by RSN 927 to support the racing icon as he battles cancer – surpassed its $100,000 goal in less than 24 hours.

More than $170k has now been raised.

RSN Program Director Andrew Bensley tells Radio Today it just goes to show the depth of feeling for ‘Deano.’

“The response to the Go Fund Me page is amazing but shouldn’t surprise. It really does show people’s love for Deane Lester.”

“Deane has been a part of 3UZ/RSN for thirty years and has created a huge audience that tune in especially to hear his selections.”

“Deane is not only loved by the listeners but also the staff that work with him regularly. His attention to going on air and giving the RSN listeners required information can’t be matched.”

Now, the 54 year old is facing the biggest fight of his life.

Lester has long battled ill health, taking on each and every challenge life has served up to him.

In a recent interview with Racenet’s Bruce Clark, Lester told of a particularly challenging time, in which he was bedridden for 14 months, restricted to lying on his left side only.

“It wasn’t much fun. I had an air bed and a pile of pillows. But I was able to work.”

Lester said he had a hospital table set up for radio beside his bed, which helped keep him sane.

As Clark noted “Every word you heard from him over that period – when you thought life was normal – was him confined to bed, unable to roll to his right side.”

Media personality and close friend Hamish McLachlan became emotional when talking about Lester on RSN’s Racing Pulse this week.

“He won’t be able to work. He’s been really struggling to keep going the last month or two. He was struggling to stay awake on the weekends throughout broadcasts, and he knew something was wrong.”

“He got the shocking news last week – they did a PET scan. They put dye through the body and it lights up where the cancer is.”

“In Deane’s words: ‘I lit up like a Christmas tree.’”

His colleagues were desperate to help in any way they could.

“This is where Deane is an incredible human. He said ‘I always said I’d look after my mother. I’d pay off her house. I haven’t done that yet. I haven’t been able to work much in the last three or four years.’”

Whilst a proud man, Lester did not deny the need for help.

“We’ve all been in a hole from time to time,” says McLachlan.

“It’s our time – I think – to see if we can get Deane out of a bit of a hole.”

“The saddest news is, his health – which has always been poor – is at its lowest ebb.”

Lester always wanted to be a part of the racing industry.

In RSN’s Behind The Mic, he revealed “My pathway into the media started the week before my 21st birthday. I was clocking trackwork at Cranbourne and the Sporting Globe at the time – who were the leading racing newspaper – was looking for a track clocker. Ken Keys – the trainer – recommended me for the job.

“After that 3UZ (now RSN) rang me and asked if I would be available on a Saturday morning to come on for a two-minute spot on the radio to give the best from trackwork at Cranbourne.”

Lester debuted on air in 1989, just a day before he turned 21.

Known among those closest to him as a humble man, Lester considers himself very fortunate for the opportunities he has been given:

He told Racenet “I think I have been true to what I have known from the start in this game.”

“It’s never been about me.”