Cancer Blogger Passes Away Day Before Wedding

Cancer blogger Anna Swabey announced her engagement in December, 2015 on her blog Inside My Head. She was planning on getting married on Saturday September 17th, 2016. However, Swabey didn’t make it. She passed away on September 16, 2016, the day before her wedding.

“I knew halfway through my third date with Andy that I was going to break his heart,” Swabey wrote in an essay for Marie Claire. “Not because I was going to cheat on him or dump him, but because I knew I was going to die.”

Swabey was engaged to Andy Bell, who had known that his bride-to-be had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, but he was still determined to wed her. He didn’t let her brain tumor change how he felt about her.

“He knew from day one that I was battling a terminal illness, and yet did not let this, in any way shape or form cloud any of our time together,” she wrote on her blog. “The most beautiful thing for me, is that Andy sees me just for me, not ‘Anna with a brain tumor.’”

The two were planning on wedding in front of 160 guests, including family and friends. The family wrote a touching post on Facebook regarding Swabey. The said, “Amongst our sadness, we are so proud of her courage, her spirit and the determination she showed throughout her illness.”

As for Bell, he never backed away when it came to her illness. Not only did he got through 12 round of chemotherapy with Swabey, but he knew he wanted to marry her, despite the fact that he knew he would lose her too soon.

“I know that by marrying Anna, I’ll be a widower before my 30th birthday,” he said. “However, all I want is to be able to introduce her as ‘my wife.’ I can’t wait for that moment.”

As an advocate for the Brain Tumor Research Campaign, Swabey was able to help raise nearly $100,000 to help others in her condition.

[H/T Us Weekly]