Carpe Diem Brown

Diem Brown, who died in mid November at the age 32, wasn’t just a reality TV star. She was a very real, very inspiring face of cancer for many people. At the age of 23,  she announced in her first appearance on an MTV reality show that she had ovarian cancer.

Between her honesty throughout her seven seasons of MTV’s The Challenge and her openness through blogs, social media, YouTube, and the like, she will be remembered for her strength and as well as her willingness to inform people of her experience by taking them on her cancer journey with her. She became an advocate for cancer patients and established Medgift, an online gift registry enabling those with medical troubles to seek financial help as well as physical and emotional support.

I did not know about her before she died but I was struck that this woman got ovarian cancer at a very young age, fought such a personal valiant battle for nine years as well as did so much good for others. Right before she died, she tweeted, “My doctors are seemingly giving up but I won’t & can’t rollover. Whatever option I have to LIVE. I’m grabbing!”

Not only was she beautiful, she was brave and caring. She’s my hero!