Shannen Doherty has died at the age of 53. She had been suffering from cancer since 2015

Shannen Doherty dies at 53, after having faced the disease, cancer, with courage and great dignity for many years. «It is with great sadness that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, he lost his battle with cancer after battling the disease for many years,” Leslie Sloane, his longtime publicist, confirmed in a statement released to People. And again: “The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones and her dog, Bowie. The family asks for privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”

The illness

Doherty rose to fame in the early 1990s for her role as Brenda in Beverly Hills 90210 and then for Prue’s in Witches. The actress was cancer patient since 2015, breast cancer, and has been sharing updates on her condition since the very beginning, hiding nothing, not even the moments of despair during the most aggressive therapies. Doherty had thus described over the years the operations, the daily difficulties, the divorce from her husband, the photographer Kurt Iswarienko, who had not been able to stay by her side during her illness, the experimental treatments, the tests. Up until the most difficult announcement: the spread of the stage 4 cancer.

The most difficult announcement

«I’m not done living. I’m not done loving. I’m not done creating.. I’m not done hoping to change things for the better. I’m just not done,” she said last November. “I wake up and go to bed thanking God, praying for the things that matter to me without asking too much. It connects me to a higher power and spirituality. My faith is my mantra. I don’t want to die. I know it sounds banal and crazy, but when you have cancer you are more aware of everything and you feel lucky. We are people who want to work harder, because we are so grateful for every second, every hour, every day that we can be here.”

And even after Kate Middleton’s illness was announced last April, Doherty wanted to convey her support and respect: “Even though we are public figures, it doesn’t mean we are owned by the public. I hope that what happened brings awareness. We all have the right to deal with illness in private.” And again: “Princess Kate, I admire your strength through the endless onslaught you were subjected to as you faced your cancer diagnosis and treatment.”

The funeral “which must be a celebration of love”

The actress’s great strength and courage had also led her to take care of what would happen after her, so as not to leave her mother – who had always been her first thought – to have to deal not only with the pain but also with the organizational tasks. Sothe actress had already thought about her funeral: “First of all, the guest list has to be short. I only want people who really want to be there. There are a lot of people who I think would show up and I don’t want to be there. I don’t want them there because their reasons for showing up aren’t the best reasons. Examples? These are people who don’t really like me right now, they have their reasons and that’s fine. But I want consistency. Don’t you like me? Don’t show up at my funeral pretending you care.” he had said during the podcast Let’s be clear to his friend Chris Cortazzo, “I don’t want people to cry or privately say, ‘Thank God that bitch is dead now,'” he continued, emphasizing: “I think everything will be done at my house, where I spend most of my good times. Whoever comes should know that it will have to be a celebration of love.”

And then, again: «I want my remains mixed with those of my dog ​​and my father. And then I want our ashes to be scattered in a place that my dad and I loved in Malibu, where we spent precious time.”

A few weeks later, Shannen Doherty had started selling many of her things, always for the love of her mother Rosa: «I don’t want her to end up with four garages full of furniture just because I’m obsessed with furniture». Mind you, all this does not mean that the actress had given up on the disease: «I could die today, I could die in 20 years, I don’t know. I could die walking outside my house, if a tree falls on me or a bus hits me. Or I could die of cancer. But all I can do is live every day as positively as possible, with the hope of being able to think: “Wow, I’m going to wake up again today, what can I do?“».

Thank you, Shannen Doherty.

Source: Vanity Fair

You may also like