Rihanna Mourns Loss of Fan Who Battled Cancer

Rihanna lost a member of her beloved Navy over the Christmas holiday, and the singer soon used social media to share a touching post mourning the loss of her longtime fan Monia.

On Thursday, Dec. 27, Rihanna used Instagram to share a selfie she and Monia had taken at an event this year, with the singer wearing sunglasses and making a kissy face as Monia happily smiled at the camera.

“Navy Angels! This Christmas, we lost a beautiful spirit who was such a pillar of strength to us!” Rihanna wrote in her caption. “Most of our friendship she’s spent in a hospital or doctor’s office! This picture was just a few months ago, she looked at me and said ‘Rih the cancer is back’ I’ll never forget the fear in her eyes this day!”

“Still she pushed forward, fighting the fight everyday with the Navy behind her supporting her every step of the way!” she continued. “We are all heartbroken about this!!! You will never be forgotten! Love you my angel @moniasto fly in peace.”

She followed that post with a video of herself and Monia embracing backstage at an event.

“Miss you already sis,” Rihanna wrote.

In her own social media post of the video, Monia explained that the clip was taken after she had told Rihanna her cancer had returned while attending the Savage X Fenty London pop-up shop in June.

“This is me right after I told her my cancer got back, it literally broke my heart to tell her this,” Monia wrote at the time,” but she’s so caring and supportive!! love you forever @badgalriri thank you so much for this!”

Rihanna and Monia had known each other for some time, with Rihanna often commenting on Monia’s social media posts and Monia attending many of the Fenty Beauty founder’s events.

In early December, Monia shared a screenshot of a comment Rihanna had left her on one of her last Instagram posts.

“Sis we are all praying for you! Your strength and your ability to let the beauty in your spirit shine through, even in the midst of adversity, is tremendously inspiring!!” the comment read. “Thank you for continuing to share your journey with us! I imagine it’s quite a lonely one, hours on end in hospital walls, being scared to even fall asleep because you’re afraid u won’t wake up, feeling like nobody will ever understand that, the physical agony, the medication and all their side effects…I can’t begin to imagine what you feel, so I want you to know we are all here for you and I encourage the NAVY to rally around you during these times! Love you!”

Photo Credit: Instagram / @badgalriri