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cancer

Pop Culture

'Princess Bride' star Mandy Patinkin shared a moving detail about the film with a grieving woman

Two souls connecting over the loss of their fathers. (Phew, grab a tissue for this one, folks.)

via Mandy Patinkin / TikTok

There was an emotional exchange on TikTok between two people who lost their fathers to cancer. One was actor Mandy Patinkin, the other was TikTok user Amanda Webb.

Patinkin currently stars on "The Good Fight" but one of his most famous roles is Inigo Montoya in the 1987 classic "The Princess Bride." In the film, Montoya is a swordsman who is obsessed with confronting a six-fingered man who killed his father.

Webb recently lost her father Dan to mantle cell lymphoma. She had heard a rumor that Patinkin used his father's death from cancer as motivation in a pivotal scene where he confronts the six-fingered Count Rugen (Christopher Guest) in a duel.

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This article originally appeared on 04.15.19


On May 28, 2014, 13-year-old Athena Orchard of Leicester, England, died of bone cancer. The disease began as a tumor in her head and eventually spread to her spine and left shoulder. After her passing, Athena's parents and six siblings were completely devastated. In the days following her death, her father, Dean, had the difficult task of going through her belongings. But the spirits of the entire Orchard family got a huge boost when he uncovered a secret message written by Athena on the backside of a full-length mirror.

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Nadia Popovici's life-saving message at the Kraken/Canucks game in Seattle via Twitter

This story originally appeared on 01.06.22


Hockey fan Nadia Popovici had been watching the Vancouver Canucks play the Seattle Kraken when she noticed something offputting from the stands that set off alarms from her training as a medical student.

As Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian Hamilton approached the bench, Popovici noticed a small mole on the back of his neck. The marking might have seemed innocent enough, but thanks to her experience volunteering for oncology wards, Popovici recognized the potential danger lurking. So, she quickly took action.

“The mole on the back of your neck is cancer,” read Popovici’s message in big boldly colored letters on her phone screen. It took a few attempts to get her message across during the hustle and bustle of the game, but she eventually got Hamiliton’s attention through the plexiglass.

And sure enough, her on-the-spot prognosis was right.

Hamilton received a biopsy which confirmed that the mole had been cancerous. And if it had gone unaddressed, it would have been life-threatening.

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Jane Marczewski.

Update: Jane Marczewski, the singer-songwriter who was given a 2% chance to live and who got even Simon Cowell teary-eyed with her "America's Got Talent" audition last summer, has died of cancer at age 31. Marczewski, who went by Nightbirde when she sang, had gained an enormous and devoted following with her beautiful voice, her raw vulnerability and her gratitude for every minute she was given. (Seriously, scroll down and watch her audition if you haven't seen it. It was incredible.)

Jane's family shared video message on her Instagram account, in which she explains how sadness and grief can go hand in hand with gratitude and hope, and it's a lesson we can all take something from. Rest in peace, beautiful Nightbirde.

The piece below was originally published on 6.10.21.

All of us face challenges in life, but some people also face challenges to life itself. For 30-year-old singer Jane Marczewski, who goes by Nightbirde when she sings, those challenges are real and immediate in the form of her third round of cancer. Prior to her America's Got Talent audition, scans showed cancer in her lungs, spine, and liver. Her prognosis was daunting—six months to live and a two percent chance of survival.

But to hear her tell it, that small chance is a gift. And hearing her sing about the last year of her life is enough to inspire even the most cynical among us.

She doesn't mention it on the show, but her husband also left her in the midst of her cancer journey. In her blog, she writes powerfully and poetically about these struggles, describing her hours spent curled up on the bathroom floor and the raw, painful conversations with God that have ultimately strengthened her faith. Her positive outlook has been hard-won, which makes it all the more relatable.

As she told the judges of America's Got Talent, "It's important that everyone knows that I'm so much more than the bad things that happen to me." She also said, "You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy"—a philosophy that actually means something coming from someone in the depths of heartbreak and hardship.

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