‘Top Chef’ Star Fatima Ali Remained Optimistic in Final Instagram Post

In Fatima Ali’s final Instagram post, the late Top Chef star thanked her fans for their support and asked for prayers, 15 days before her death.

Ali, 29, was absent from Instagram from Dec. 20 to Jan. 10, when she returned to share a new selfie from her hospital bed.

“I know it’s been ages since I posted and most may have figured out why,” she wrote. “I’m sick and unfortunately I’m getting sicker. Right now all I need are prayers; prayers that are simple. I hope, because a wish is putting on too much responsibility on the other, that you will somehow find forgiveness in your big heart for whenever I must have hurt you.”

The fan favorite chef continued, “I thank you a million times over for when you have given me joy. I’ll try to keep everyone updated the best that I possibly can.”

On Friday, Alizah Raza and Top Chef Season 15 co-star Bruce Kaplan shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram.

“It’s with a heavy heart we say goodbye to Fatima Ali today, as she has lost her battle with cancer,” Kaplan, who visited Ali with other Top Chef Season 15 stars earlier this month, wrote. “I will miss you Fati, and you will be in my heart forever. I’ll always remember the great times we had, especially our interview during the tailgating episode discussing football, stadiums, and Taylor Swift. Much love, Bruce.”

The comments section on Ali’s final Instagram post became a place for her fans to share their sadness and fond memories of her appearance on Bravo’s Top Chef.

“It’s broke my heart to hear the news today, Chef…thank you for being larger than life and for always having a positive attitude despite the obstacles,” one fan wrote. “You are such a inspiration. Rest In Peace.”

“Sad to hear the news. It was a pleasure watching you and was hoping for a miracle. Rest in peace,” added another.

“R.I.P. Rest in Paradise Fatima … Sending prayers to your family and friends,” another fan wrote.

Ali battled Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. She was diagnosed with the disease in 2017, and was declared cancer-free earlier this year. Sadly, she learned the cancer returned in September and published an essay for Healthyish on how she wanted to spend her last days and how the terminal diagnosis changed her outlook on life.

“It’s funny, isn’t it? When we think we have all the time in the world to live, we forget to indulge in the experiences of living. When that choice is yanked away from us, that’s when we scramble to feel,” Ali wrote in October. “I am desperate to overload my senses in the coming months, making reservations at the world’s best restaurants, reaching out to past lovers and friends, and smothering my family, giving them the time that I so selfishly guarded before.”

Ali appeared on Top Chef Season 15 in 2017 and was named the fan favorite chef of the season.

Photo credit: Instagram/Fatima Ali