‘Top Chef’ Contestant Fatima Ali Dies at 29 After Cancer Battle
Top Chef Season 15 Fan Favorite winner, Fatima Ali, died on Friday, January 25, at the age of 29.
The chef was battling Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, after being diagnosed in 2017. Bravo confirmed Ali’s death in a statement:
“We are deeply saddened to share the news that Fatima Ali has lost her courageous battle with cancer,” said a rep for the network. “Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time. People not only fell in love with her cooking, but fell in love with her personality and heart. We hope that the beautiful memories shared with her will provide comfort to everyone who knew and loved her.”
She underwent surgery in July 2017 to remove a large tumor from her shoulder but the cancer returned in October “with a vengeance,” she detailed in essay for Bon Appetit. “The cancer cells my doctors believed had vanished are back with a vengeance in my left hip and femur bone,” she said.
She revealed she only had “a year to live, with or without the new chemotherapy regimen,” according to her doctors.
The Bravo and Top Chef community honored their friend on social media with tribute posts.
Earlier this month, Ali confessed she was “getting sicker” on social media.
“Right now all I need are prayers; prayers that are simple. I hope, because a wish is putting on too much responsibility on the other, that you will somehow find forgiveness in your big heart for whenever I must have hurt you. I thank you a million times over for when you have given me joy. I’ll try to keep everyone updated the best that I possibly can,” she wrote in her last post.
