Loved ones of the former The Bachelor contestant Hailey Merkt announced that she died Friday at 31 years old after a “courageous fight for her life” with leukemia.
Merkt was a contestant on season 21 of the reality TV show, where she vied for Nick Viall’s heart before she was eliminated in the show’s second week.
Merkt’s loved ones posted a heart-wrenching statement to her Instagram account on Tuesday evening to announce the news.
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“Hailey faced this journey with unimaginable strength, grace, and selflessness,” they wrote. “Her determination, courage, and will to live surpassed every timeline the doctors gave her.”
The statement said Merkt, a native of Canada, spent her final days “surrounded by loved ones” and “doing what she cherished most with no regrets.”
Merkt shared the highs and lows of her cancer battle with her Instagram followers. She used the platform to describe how she sometimes struggled to eat and could hardly get up to shower, but also the joy she found in catching a sunset through her hospital window and eating whatever she pleased, no longer worried about dieting.
Hailey first revealed her diagnosis in October, but she suggested she’d been battling the sickness for some time. She uploaded a video to her Instagram story shaving off her hair, telling her followers she’d already tried chemotherapy and it “didn’t work.”
Merkt announced that she was in remission in November and briefly appeared to be in the clear after successful treatments. “There was a two percent chance of this treatment working and it fucking did,” she said in an Instagram video, reported the Daily Mail.
Her fortunes changed this year, however, after her cancer returned despite a successful stem cell transplant surgery with her brother in December.
Loved ones wrote that Merkt will be “remembered as anything but boring, always hysterically funny, and as someone who lived fully in the present moment.”
“Hailey embraced life with an unmatched zest; her beautiful spirit has touched countless lives,” her family’s statement added.
A GoFundMe page was created for Merkt during her leukemia battle. Her family said the fundraiser, which had raised over $82,000 by Wednesday afternoon, would remain open until Aug. 10.
Other alums from The Bachelor reacted to the news on Tuesday.
“Baby girl 💔 we will love you always 🤍🕊️,” commented Jasmine Goode, who also appeared on Viall’s season. “I’ll never forget that beautiful smile and laugh that made me crack up!! Love you🤍”
