When Micah Repato learned that her cancer diagnosis was terminal, she decided to forego palliative care and instead spend her last few weeks celebrating her life with loved ones.
With the help of a Calgary non-profit, the 25-year-old marked her birthday and Christmas in the same week, with family and friends flying in from across North America to celebrate. She got engaged to her boyfriend just days before the party, and the couple wed the following week.
“Having all these people surrounding me … it’s been great,” Repato told CTV Calgary at the time through tears.
Sadly, the organization that planned the party announced this week that Repato has passed away.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband and family during this difficult and trying time,” the Wishing Well Event Foundation announced in an Instagram post.
“While her sunny and generous spirit will be missed on earth, God is blessed to have this angel in heaven with him now.”
Repato was diagnosed with colon cancer in late 2016 after suffering from severe abdominal pain for a month. Doctors were able to remove a tumor in Repato’s intestine and hoped that she would recover.
But the pain eventually returned, and during a subsequent visit to the emergency room, Repato learned that her cancer was stage four and no longer operable.
Doctors told her at the time that she only had a few weeks to live. That’s when she decided that rather than stay in palliative care, she wanted to return home to be surrounded by loved ones.
She celebrated her first week home with a Greek-themed birthday and Christmas party inspired by a Mediterranean vacation she took last year. Loved ones also celebrated Repato’s engagement to her boyfriend, Peter Studnicka, who she’d met two years earlier when she walked into the car dealership he worked at.
“Micah is a very strong person,” Studnicka said at the time. “I think all her friends and family will attest to that. At the same time, she can’t be strong all the time. She’s dealing with something that she didn’t ask for.”
In the later stages of her illness, Repato turned to natural treatments and started a GoFundMe page to help pay for them. The fundraiser earned more than $17,000 in one month, and any excess funds were to be donated to Young Adult Cancer Canada.
As the donations poured in, Repato posted a thank-you note to everyone – including complete strangers – who turned to help her when she needed it most.
“It inspires me so much knowing that this world is filled with people that are so caring and compassionate,” she wrote.
