Top Chef star Fatima Ali has sadly passed away at the young age of 29.
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"It's with a heavy heart we say goodbye to Fatima Ali today, as she has lost her battle with cancer," Chef Bruce Kalman, who was good friends with Fatima, wrote Friday on Instagram.
"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."
Fatima, who competed on Season 15 of Top Chef in 2017, shared an update on her health crisis with fans not long before her passing through a January 11 Instagram post.
"I know it's been ages since I posted and most may have figured out why. I'm sick and unfortunately I'm getting sicker," Fatima captioned a selfie in her hospital bed at the time.
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"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. I thank you a million times over for when you have given me joy."
Fatima suffered from Ewing's sarcoma, a terminal cancer of the bone and soft tissue, according to Us Weekly.
Fatima celebrated highs and endured lows throughout her cancer battle, ever since she was diagnosed in late 2017.
Fatima, for instance, announced in February 2018 she was in remission, but then in October of last year, the New York-based chef revealed the unfortunate news her cancer had returned.
"The cancer cells my doctors believed had vanished are back with a vengeance in my left hip and femur bone," Fatima wrote in an essay for Bon Appetit's Healthyish, according to Us.
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"My oncologist has told me that I have a year to live, with or without the new chemotherapy regimen. I was looking forward to being 30, flirty and thriving. Guess I have to step it up on the flirting. I have no time to lose."
Fatima, who appeared on Chopped in 2013, became good friends with Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi throughout her time on reality television. Padma reportedly showed endless support and was even present for one of Fatima's surgeries in January 2018.
In addition to competing on Chopped and Top Chef, Fatima also appeared on the daytime soap opera General Hospital.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski