BEAR RIVER, Utah — Kathy Taylor, who inspired singer Sarah McLachlan and others, has died in Utah after a fight against cancer while pregnant with her sixth child. She was 34.
Taylor died at her home in Bear River on Wednesday, four months after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of melanoma when she was 26 weeks pregnant, her family said in a statement Friday.
Taylor did what she could to keep the pregnancy going and gave birth on Sept. 11 to her son, Luke, who weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces. He died weeks later.
Doctors had removed melanoma from Taylor’s back seven years ago and it returned in June. Throughout her latest struggle with cancer, Taylor and her husband, Nate Taylor, blogged about her experience at Kathysmiracle.com.
McLachlan heard the story and decided to help raise funds to cover Taylor’s medical costs, calling her attitude “a story of strength and courage.”
Taylor previously recorded McLachlan’s song, “I Will Remember You,” and McLachlan helped make Taylor’s version of the song available on iTunes with all proceeds going to her medical expenses, the Deseret News reported. Various fundraisers netted more than $70,000.
Family members relied heavily on their faith during the ordeal.
Taylor expressed her faith in a final post on Christmas Eve, saying she had tried to “hang on” until Christmas so she could share the holiday with her family.
“I have to admit it has been extremely hard and I pray constantly for strength to endure cheerfully, to be able to continue to be kind and nurturing to my family till the end and I’ve been praying to not be afraid of what the end will look like,” she wrote.
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