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| FATIMA ALI, 1990-2019 |
Fatima Ali, the Pakistan-born chef died after her nearly year-long battle against cancer.
A contestant in the Top Chef show's Season 15 that aired earlier this year, she finished iseventh out of 15 chefs but her personality won over the audiences and was voted Fan Favorite on the Bravo network show hosted by Indian American personality Padma Lakishmi.
The network released this statement Saturday (Jan. 26): "Bravo's Top Chef family, we are deeply saddened to share the news that Fatima Ali has lost her courageous battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time. People not only fell in love with her cooking, but fell in love with her personality and heart. We hope that the beautiful memories shared with her will provide comfort to everyone who knew and loved her."
The 29-year old Ali left her Pakistani hometown at age of 18 and moved to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a professional chef.
She enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America and scored her first job as a junior sous chef at Café Centro in New York. She eventually became the youngest executive sous chef at Macy's Stella 34, and later became executive sous chef at La Fonda Del Sol.
Ali was first diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, back in late 2017, as that season of Top CheF was just starting to air. The chef had declared herself cancer-free this past summer but revealed that it was back in the fall.
By the summer of 2018, she said she was cancer-free. But in October she wrote an essay for Bon Appetitt that her cancer had returned "with a vengence" and had been given less than a year to live.
Two weeks ago, she posted on social media that her health was declining.
“Right now all I need are prayers; prayers that are simple,” she continued. “I hope, because a wish is putting on too much responsibility on the other, that you will somehow find forgiveness in your big heart for whenever I must have hurt you. I thank you a million times over for when you have given me joy.”
“Right now all I need are prayers; prayers that are simple,” she continued. “I hope, because a wish is putting on too much responsibility on the other, that you will somehow find forgiveness in your big heart for whenever I must have hurt you. I thank you a million times over for when you have given me joy.”
Last week, many of Ali’s Top Chef friends gathered in Los Angeles to show support during what were some of her final days.
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| INSTAGRAM / CHRIS SCOTT |
Friday, Lakshmi, cancelled a Facebook Live event "for personal reasons." The Top Chef host posted:
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