Angelina Jolie’s aunt has died of breast cancer, just two weeks after the Hollywood actress wrote about deciding to have a double mastectomy when she learned she had inherited a high risk of breast cancer.
A hospital spokesman in California confirmed the death of Debbie Martin, Jolie’s mum’s younger sister, yesterday. Debbie was 61 years of age, Reuters report.
Her husband, Ron Martin, told Sky News that his wife had the same defective BRCA1 gene as Jolie.
Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died of breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 56.
Only a fortnight ago, Oscar-winning star Jolie revealed in an op-ed in the New York Times that she had undergone a double mastectomy. She said she hoped her story would inspire other women that are fighting the life-threatening disease.
Angelina Jolie wrote about her decision in the New York Times.
She wrote that she went through with the operation to reassure her six children that she would not die young from cancer, as her own mother did.
“We often speak of ‘Mommy’s mommy,’ and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me,” wrote Jolie.
“I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a ‘faulty’ gene.”
Jolie decided to go for the surgery after she discovered that she had an 87 per cent risk of breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer, due to genetics.
She has since decided to undergo an operation on her ovaries too.
