Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze died in 2009 and his widow has previously revealed the late actor’s last words.
Lisa Niemi, who was married to Swayze from 1975 until his death, recalled the couple’s tender last moments with each other in her 2011 memoir.
Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze: Last words revealed
Writing in Worth Fighting For, Niemi said: “My last words to Patrick? ‘I love you,’ and those were his last words to me.
“After I brought him home, things went very fast. I cherished our time alone, holding his hand, listening to music, sleeping with my arm around him, my head on his shoulder, wordlessly.”
She added: “In the quiet of Monday morning, September 14th, I looked at his face and listened to the tiny sips of air he was taking. There was something delicate, childlike about it. I knew it was time.”
Patrick was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer at the start of 2008. After going through treatment including chemotherapy and a clinical trial, Swayze told fans the cancer has spread to his liver.
We held out hope for the miracle.
It meant he and his wife had 22 months together from when he was first diagnosed.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping in 2021, Lisa explained: “Patrick and I had called ourselves realistic optimists.
“We knew in all likelihood how this might end up, but I tell you what, every day there are miracles, and people survive and they survive for quite some time … and why not him?
“So we held out hope for the miracle.”
In September 2009, he died at home with Lisa by his side. He was just 57 years old.
Lisa on grieving and loss
Since then, Lisa has gone on to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. In 2017, she put some of her husband’s most iconic pieces of memorabilia up for sale.
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She told Press Association that a grief counsellor said it would be “really healthy” to auction off the items.
Lisa added: “I could have put it all into storage but nobody would have seen it and nobody would have enjoyed it.”
Some of the items included his red shirt and shoes from Ghost, which were put up for an estimated price of $2,000 to $4,000.
She also auctioned off the famous leather jacket he wore in Dirty Dancing which sold for $62,500.
At the time, Lisa announced that a “generous” portion of the proceeds would be going to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Dirty Dancing is on ITV1 June 15 at 7.50pm.
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