Cancer-Stricken Elizabeth Edwards Dies At 61
Dec. 7 2010, Published 7:57 a.m. ET
Elizabeth Edwards -- a symbol of quiet grace and unrelenting resolve -- has died from complications related to breast cancer at the age of 61, Breaking Celebrity News has learned.
In her final days, she was surrounded by her once-estranged husband John, their three children, and by close friends at her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina .
Edwards -- who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 -- courageously battled the disease for more than six years.
After an initially successful course of chemo and treatment, she announced in 2007 that the cancer had returned, and had spread to her lymph nodes and bones.
She ceased treatment in early December of this year, after doctors told her the cancer had spread to her liver and that any further treatment would be futile. At that time, she was told she had only weeks to live.
"The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered," Edwards wrote on her Facebook page December 6 upon deciding to end her medical care. "We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human.
"But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious," she wrote. "And for that I am grateful ... it isn't possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel towards everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know."
Edwards, an attorney by trade, will be remembered as a figure of great strength, keeping her head held high while enduring a series of personal tragedies.
Her son Wade died in 1996 at the age of 16 when his