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‘I always imagined myself growing old’: Young woman’s heartbreaking letter to the world shared after she passes away 

By Robyn Lucas

A young woman’s touching final advice has been shared by her family on social media only hours after cancer tragically claimed her life.

Holly Butcher, from New South Wales, Australia, sadly lost her battle with Ewing sarcoma – a very rare type of cancerous tumour that grows in your bones, according to WebMD.

The 27-year-old wrote an open letter and asked her family to post it on Facebook once she passed away.

In the letter Holly revealed she found it “strange” to accept she was dying at such a young age because she’d always imagined herself “wrinkled and grey”.

“It’s a strange thing to realise and accept your mortality at 26 years young,” she wrote.

“It’s just one of those things you ignore. The days tick by and you just expect they will keep on coming; until the unexpected happens.

“I always imagined myself growing old, wrinkled and grey – most likely caused by the beautiful family (lots of kiddies) I planned on building with the love of my life. I want that so bad it hurts.

“That’s the thing about life. It’s fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given right.

“I’m 27 now. I don’t want to go. I love my life. I’m happy. I owe that to my loved ones. But the control is out of my hands.”

Holly urged people to stop worrying about the “small and meaningless” things in life and instead focus on the important moments.

“You might have got caught in bad traffic today, or had a bad sleep because your beautiful babies kept you awake, or your hairdresser cut your hair too short.

“Your new fake nails might have got a chip, your boobs are too small, or you have cellulite on your arse and your belly is wobbling.

“Let all that go. I swear you’ll not be thinking of those things when it’s your turn to go,” she says. 

Holly, who represented her state in squash and hockey, also reminded people to be grateful for their health. 

“I’m watching my body waste away right before my eyes with nothing I can do about it and all I wish for now is that I could have just one more birthday or Christmas with my family, or just one more day with my partner and dog. Just one more.

“Be grateful for each day you don’t have pain and even the days where you’re unwell with man flu, a sore back or a sprained ankle, accept it’s sh** but be thankful it isn’t life-threatening and will go away,” she wrote. 

Urging people to love and embrace the person closest to them, Holly’s final appeal was for blood donations.

“If you can, do a good deed for humanity (and myself) and start regularly donating blood,” she pleaded.

“It will make you feel good with the added bonus of saving lives. I feel like it’s something that’s so overlooked considering every donation can save three lives!

“Blood donation (more bags than I could keep up with counting) helped keep me alive for an extra year – a year I’ll be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends and dog.”

Sources: metro.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk, mirror.co.uk

Robyn Lucas