Elizabeth Edwards passed away Tuesday morning following a long battle with cancer.
Sign The Legacy Guest Book For Elizabeth Edwards
"Today we have lost the comfort of Elizabeth's presence but she remains the heart of this family," the Edwards family said in a statement. "We love her and will never know anyone more inspiring or full of life."
Doctors recently told Edwards she only had a few weeks to live, according to a family friend who is among those who gathered at Edwards' North Carolina home.
The family issued a statement Monday that said doctors told Edwards that further treatment for her cancer would be unproductive, and the family friend further described Edwards' condition to the Associated Press.
The friend said Edwards was briefly hospitalized last week and received treatment, but doctors told her she may have only a couple months of life left. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity because of the personal details divulged.
Edwards' estranged husband, former presidential candidate John Edwards, and their three children were at her side at the Chapel Hill home, the friend reported. Her sister, brother, nieces, nephews and other loved ones were also there. The friend said Elizabeth Edwards was not in pain despite the seriousness of her condition.
Edwards, a popular figure among Democratic activists as she campaigned with her husband in two presidential bids, recently posted on her Facebook page that she couldn't express the love and gratitude she felt to those who supported and inspired her. "The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered," she wrote.
Edwards, 61, separated from her husband after he admitted to an extramarital affair and fathering a child with mistress Rielle Hunter. Edwards battled breast cancer since 2004, diagnosed in the final days of the campaign when her president was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.
The John Kerry-John Edwards ticket lost to incumbent President George W. Bush. John Edwards launched a second bid for the White House in 2007. The Edwards pair decided to continue the campaign after doctors told Elizabeth that her cancer had spread, but he lost the nomination to Barack Obama.
The Edwards family asks that a donation be made to the Wade Edwards Foundation in lieu of flowers.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement