The Last Words Farrah Fawcett Ever Said Are Truly Heartbreaking
Farrah Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006.
Her longtime love, Ryan O’Neal, and her friend, Alana Stewart, stood by her side and helped the actress fight for her life.
Farrah died on June 25, 2009 at the age of 62.
Farrah Fawcett is gone, but she’s never forgotten in the hearts of her many loved ones.
The Charlie’s Angels star died of anal cancer at the age of 62. She was first diagnosed when she was 58, and had spent every moment after fighting for her life. Her close friend, Alana Stewart, and her longtime partner, Ryan O’Neal, stood by her side as she underwent treatment, and they were devastated when she passed away on June 25, 2009.
“Farrah was the Golden Girl to everyone so it was such a shock, to the whole world, when she got cancer,” Alana told ABCNews in the special, This Is Farrah Fawcett. “It kind of goes to show you that you know, cancer doesn’t play favorites.”
Farrah had been battling the disease since 2006, according to the New York Times. Doctors declared her cancer-free in 2007 after removing a tumor, but it returned again that same year. The stage 4 cancer had metastasized to her liver.
Alana and Farrah then decided to start filming her experience, the footage of which eventually became a documentary. “It was just me and a little camera and her,” Alana said.
Farrah was committed to sharing every aspect of the devastating journey, including the extremely personal times from getting violently sick to shaving her iconic hair. Alana recalled asking Farrah if she should stop rolling once, and Farrah replied, “’No.’ She said, ‘This is what cancer is. Film it.’”
Farrah later decided to split time between her California home and a clinic in Germany that provided alternative treatments, Vanity Fair reported. She hoped spreading this information would help in “finding new methods of fighting cancer.”
Alana and Ryan helped in every way they could to keep her spirits up, including bringing along her favorite treats like green-corn tamales and fried chicken to the hospital. Ryan also proposed to Farrah a few weeks before her death.
“I think they would’ve married if she had made it because he asked her to marry him in the hospital and she said yes,” Alana told People. “But she took a turn for the worse. This was just a few weeks before the end, so perhaps it wasn’t realistic.”
Soon after, Farrah started to decline very quickly. “We kind of knew that there wasn’t going to be a miracle at this point,” Alana said.
Farrah passed away in the company of Alana and Ryan. Her final word was reportedly the name of her and Ryan’s son, Redmond O’Neal. “That was the last thing she said,” her friend Mela Murphy recalled.
Today, many remember the legendary actress for her strength, honesty, and perseverance.
“There were no barriers,” said Jaclyn Smith, Farrah’s Charlie’s Angels co-star. “You know how people put up walls of politeness or they don’t talk about this, or they don’t talk about that. Everything was out on the table.”
Jaclyn added, “She always thought that she would get well. I saw the best of Farrah at the end. I saw a person that just fought for life and fought to be here for her family, her loved ones.”
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