The sole great-granddaughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz has passed away at the age of 31 after a long battle with breast cancer.
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According to Yahoo! News, Desiree Anzalone passed away from breast cancer this week. Her mother, Julia Arnaz, confirmed the news in a statement to PEOPLE and said her daughter reminded her of her famous grandmother. She says, “She was so beautiful, just so so beautiful inside and out. She really, really reminded me a lot of my grandmother, more so than I.”
Anzalone was the first and only great-granddaughter of the iconic couple and her grandfather is Desi Arnaz Jr. Last year, she discussed on social media how proud her grandmother would be during her battle with stage 4 breast cancer.
“Such a nice article wrote about me, and how Lucy and I share the same gumption in regards to my fight with stage 4 breast cancer and how proud she’d be of me. These comments are so ridiculous, and sad, like calm down people. I promise it’s going to be okay. No need to get so angry. Too many shallow human beings out there. I have acknowledged my entire life I do not resemble my great-grandma, but rather have more of the Arnaz genes. So thank you all for stating the obvious.”
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She was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at the age of 25 and had a double masectomy. Unfortunately, the cancer spread to her lungs, bones, and liver. Anzalone’s mother said she wanted young girls to know the early signs of the disease despite their age.
“It’s just not talked about a lot. It’s usually people in their late 30s, 40s, 50s — not somebody at this age. So that was something that she really wanted — to help other women like her. A preventative, really.”