Olivia Newton-John’s husband John Easterling has revealed his late wife’s final wishes before losing her battle with breast cancer in early August.
John revealed that Olivia felt privileged to have access to alternative treatments and other people struggling with cancer should have the same opportunities.
“Her dream with the Olivia Newton-John Wellness Centre was to have Australians going through cancer have access to the similar types of treatments,” John told The Herald Sun.
According to John, treatments such as medicinal cannabis “undoubtedly extended Olivia’s life and gave her quality of life.” The Australian icon often lobbied for politicans to change regulations around medicinal cannabis to make to available to patients at Melbourne’s ONJ Cancer Wellness and Research Centre.
Olivia publically advocated for alternative treatments even in her final hours and John noted his late wife didn’t need “toxic chemicals or addictive painkillers” to manage her terminal illness.
John also revealed to The Herald Sun that Olivia was “pain free” and “cheerful and joyful” in her final days.
After her first breast cancer diagnosis in 1992, Olivia tried herbal formulas, meditation and “focused on a vision of complete wellness,” which inspired Olivia to establish the institution after wanting to “help others going through the same journey”.
On what would have been Olivia’s 74th birthday in late September, John shared a beautiful image of the couple on Instagram alongside a memory of Olivia’s first birthday with him as a couple.
In the days following her sudden passing, he posted a tribute for the most “courageous women” he had ever known.
“Her bandwidth for genuinely caring for people, for nature and all creatures almost eclipses what is humanely possible,” he wrote.
“It is only the grace of God that has allowed me to share the depth and passion of her being for so long. In her most difficult times she always had the spirit, the humor, and the will power to move things into the light.
“Even now as her soul soars, the pain and holes in my heart are healed with the joy of her love and the light that shines forward.”