Ryan O'Neal Explains How Farrah Fawcett Died
Actor Ryan O'Neal has spoken about his heartbreak after cradling his lover Farrah Fawcett for the final hours before she died of cancer.
The tragedy happened in 2006, when the Charlie's Angels actress succumbed to anal cancer. O'Neal tended to her as she deteriorated in the final stages of the cancer.
O'Neal himself is currently fighting stage two prostate cancer, and his heartbreaking story comes in his new book, "Both Of Us: My Life With Farrah," which is being serialized by Britain's Daily Mail.
The account reveals how O'Neal had called a priest to marry him to Fawcett, but by the time he arrived Fawcett's condition had deteriorated significantly and the priest ended up only giving the actress her last rites before she died.
O'Neal's writing states: "After the priest leaves, I lie down next to her, wrap my body around her to keep her warm, and then take her hand. I can feel a steady pulse... I caress her hand for hours. Her heart refuses to quit.
"I'm left alone with my love. I take her hand. I can still feel her pulse, but now it is fluttering. She's trying to let go. Her heartbeat slows, then disappears. On the morning of June 25, Farrah slips into eternal sleep."
O'Neal also addresses the controversial physical nature of his relationship with Fawcett: "Neither of us possessed the emotional discipline to say: 'Wait a minute, this isn't normal, we need help.'
"You have to remember that I'm a trained boxer... If someone is coming at me with fists flailing, my instinct is to block the blows, which is what I did with Farrah... I didn't see my behavior as aberrant. In reality, most of the time it wasn't her I was lashing out at, it was my kids, the world, Hollywood, my agent, you name it. I'm a moody guy."
