Shannen Doherty's final days: Comfort, courage, and love
Shannen Doherty died on July 13, 2024, after a long battle with cancer. The American actress's oncologist gave an interview to People magazine, during which he revealed what her last days were like. "She wasn’t ready to leave because she loved life," he said.
6:44 AM EDT, July 17, 2024
Shannen Doherty regularly updated her fans on social media about the progress of her illness. The actress also participated in the podcast Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty, and her last Instagram post was a segment from one of the recordings.
The star of the series "Beverly Hills 90210" discovered she had breast cancer eight years ago and fought it until her death. In June, she announced that doctors had detected metastases to the brain, and two weeks ago, she expressed doubts about the timing of chemotherapy. She couldn’t predict how long the process would take.
Shannen Doherty’s oncologist spoke out after her death
A few days after the artist's death, Dr. Lawrence D. Piro, the oncologist who oversaw the progress and development of her illness, gave an interview to People magazine. He admitted that the last few weeks were tough and feared the worst. Nevertheless, he never lost hope that the actress would recover, as he believed she was very strong and fought heroically to regain total health. He added that she wasn’t ready for death and wanted to live.
In the last few hours, she was in a place where she was very comfortable and sleeping and transitioning, and she was surrounded by some of her very close friends. (...) It was somber and sad, but beautiful and loving. The hardest thing about this was that she wasn't ready to leave because she loved life, the doctor revealed.
A few weeks before her death, the actress said in the mentioned podcast that she wanted her funeral to be held at her home as a gathering. She planned everything precisely, adding that she couldn't imagine the ceremony as one filled with crying, only love.
