When Tyra’s dad, Willy Eberwein, was diagnosed with brain cancer in late 2022, it came out of nowhere. Living alone in Beijing, the early signs—forgetfulness, behavioural changes—went unnoticed until one day he simply didn’t show up for work.
"His colleagues called and asked Dad why he wasn't at work, and he replied 'Why do I have to go to work?' They were so baffled and concerned that they encouraged him to go to hospital."
A scan revealed two large tumours on both sides of his brain. It was already stage four.
When it became clear he needed family support, Tyra, her brother, and her mother - who had been divorced from Tyra’s dad for many years but still wanted to help - each applied for visas to enter China. In the end, only Tyra’s application was approved. At just 23 years old, she found herself travelling alone to Beijing to care for her father during the toughest period of his life.
“He was told the tumours had to be removed or he would die very soon. The surgery wouldn’t cure him, but it would buy him more time.”
Chemotherapy followed the surgery, and Tyra travelled with him for two hours every day for treatment.
“It was really hard, but I cherished that time," Tyra says. "We cooked together, watched movies, just spent slow days together. It was simple, but it meant everything.” The six weeks she spent with him were the longest stretch of time they had ever shared.
Willy, who had lived in China for over 20 years after growing up in Switzerland, struggled to accept the reality of his diagnosis. “He was in denial the whole time. I had to be the one to tell him he was dying," Tyra recalls.
As his hair started falling out from chemotherapy, he agreed to shave his head. After shaving his, Tyra handed him a pair of kitchen scissors and asked him to shave hers too. “I thought, this might be the last fun thing we do together,” she says. “So, I said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s a memory I’ll hold onto forever.”
After surgery and chemotherapy, he lived another 10 months. Tyra returned to Australia after finding care for him in Beijing but stayed in close contact, visiting him once more, and cherishing every video call.
In the final weeks, her dad lost the ability to speak and became increasingly unresponsive. “He couldn’t talk anymore, and he couldn’t really do much—he would just sit there,” she says. “But even then, over video calls, when we made eye contact, I felt like he still recognised me. He forgot a lot of people, even close friends, but he never forgot me or my brother. That was really beautiful.”
“Dad taught me that if you want to do something, just do it. Life is too short. And brain cancer needs all the support it can get—because everyone deserves more time.”
To honour his memory, Tyra is running the Noosa Half Marathon and fundraising for Brain Cancer Australia. It’s not her first physical challenge - during her dad’s illness, she completed a 100km walk from the Gold Coast to Byron Bay, inspired by a trek her dad had done in Hong Kong years earlier.
“I wanted to do something physical again, to challenge myself and make a difference,” she says. “You never think brain cancer will happen to you. It reminded me how fragile life is.”
You can donate to support Tyra's fundraising efforts here: https://runawaynoosamarathon2025.grassrootz.com/brain-cancer-australia/tyra-eberwein
