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Robin Williams urged one of his fans, who had been diagnosed with three forms of terminal cancer, not to give up hope by sending her a moving video message months before he took his own life.
New Zealand-born Vivian Waller, 21, was told by doctors that she had lung, colon and liver cancer in January.
After several rounds of chemotherapy, her health continued to deteriorate, and she was moved into care at a hospice.
Knowing that she would likely die from her illness, she drew up a 'bucket list' of things she wanted to do before her time came to an end. As well as marrying her boyfriend Jack and being there for her daughter Sophie’s first birthday, this included meeting her idol, Robin Williams.
Sadly, she became too ill to travel from Auckland to the United States to do so in person. But after one of her friends managed to successfully get in touch with the actor, he agreed to record a short 20-second video clip for Waller and sent it to her family by email (scroll down to watch it below).
"Hi Vivian, it’s Robin Williams here, saying: Hey girl, what’s going on there down in New Zealand?" he said to the camera, putting on a Kiwi accent.
"Sending all my love to you, Jack and Sophie. Mark this off your bucket list."
"I said: Hey, hey, hey. What’s going on?" he continues in his trademark erratic comedic style. "It’s all right, ‘sall right, ‘sall right. I’m just channelling Matthew McConaughey."
"Much love to you baby!" he signed the message off with, blowing a kiss into the camera.
Speaking to the Sunday Star Times, Waller’s husband, Jack, whom she married in February, told of her joy at receiving the message.
Robin Williams: A career in pictures
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"Viv struggles with a lack of energy and it is quite difficult for her to concentrate," he said.
"We are just enjoying the time we have together. We take things a day at a time."
However, he admitted that he was yet to tell his wife that Williams had taken his own life, adding that he made the decision to share the video with the world because the family "love him, we want to show people how awesome a person he was".
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