I apologize in advance for busting in amidst Kelly’s debut weekend — which she is handling brilliantly — but I happen to be awake at 3 am to receive this breaking and very sad news:

British reality TV star Jade Goody has finally lost her battle with cervical cancer. She died, at the age of 27, in her home early Sunday morning.

We didn’t cover the story very much around here, because something about sensationalizing a cancer death didn’t sit right with me. I understand why Jade accepted a great deal of publicity surrounding her terminal diagnosis, and I don’t judge her one bit for doing everything in her power to leave her sons in a financially stable position. I just didn’t feel right covering it. A friend asked me about it just the other day, about why I never wrote about her. “I’ll write about her when she dies,” I said at the time.

I turn 27 on Tuesday. I cannot imagine going through everything Jade’s gone through at this age, and I have a great deal of respect for the grace and strength she showed throughout the process. Jade went from being a 20-year-old reality TV laughingstock to a model of death with dignity in less than a decade. It’s a funny thing, this life.

R.I.P., kiddo.

70 Responses to “R.I.P. Jade Goody”

1. devlin says:

   March 29, 2009 at 9:07 am

   i cant beleave what i am reading there 2 coments i was reading and they should be ashamed of them selfs.. jade rip was a caring mum who loved her boys .. like the boys i have lost my perents from cancer. rip jade xxxx

   Reply
2. Cherie says:

   April 1, 2009 at 11:36 pm

   I’m from Australia and I was watching her last days with my mum waiting for updates on many websites. I just turned 28 and my mum and I are very close and we felt a little sad at the reality of Jade’s soon-to-be passing, and we put out our prayers during the time for her mother, loved ones and children.

   It was very hard to see a charismatic, feisty, bubbly and lovable girl change so dramatically. She so happily enjoyed her time (I believe so!) here and now proudly looks down amongst her beautiful children. She has definitely left an imprint in everybody’s hearts, whether people were fans or not.

   I respect your decision to not want to write about her when she was sick, it’s not definitely appropriate for the ‘latest goss segment’, so to speak. But thanks for writing a beautiful Rest In Peace for Jade.

   RIP Jade Goody… xoxox

   Reply
3. Me says:

   April 2, 2009 at 5:44 am

   A whole load of fuss about a disease? WTF…. her fuss has saved millions of lives by raising awareness and getting people to go out and get tested. Cervical Cancer is highly curable if detected early, if not then you have little chance of surival. I’m glad she had the balls to go public instead of sheltering it from others and as for not telling her sons the whole truth…. thats the best thing she could have done – kids associate death at that age with fear and dread, they have been left believing her mum is sat on a shining star looking down on her…. Grow up you infintile idiots and i really hope one day no bad comes to you. She had the chance to make a difference and she has and she had chance to say her good byes, many people dont! We all have our opinion but dont be vile about someone who cant defend her self… as Jade said “i cant be liked by everyone, if i was i would be boring” fair one Jade…. out spoken, blunt and gorgeous – not racist!

   Reply

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