Beth Chapman, the former Dog the Bounty Hunter star and late wife of Duane "Dog" Chapman,
was one of the most memorable faces of reality television.
Unfortunately, in 2017, she was diagnosed with stage II throat cancer, and almost two
years later, with her family reportedly by her side, Beth passed away on June 26th, 2019
at a hospital in Honolulu.
In a hopeful social media post just before her death, Duane Lee Chapman spoke out amid
her cancer battle.
On Monday evening, June 24, 2019, the television personality took to Twitter to share a heartfelt
tribute to his wife of over a decade during her recent hospitalization.
Captioning a snapshot of Beth's right arm, showing off her freshly manicured fingernails,
Duane wrote,
"You all know how she is about HER NAILS!!"
Beth's nails were long and glittering, decorated with rhinestones.
Just over a week ago, Beth had posted her own pic of her manicure, writing in the caption,
"#NailGod Yes this is why I fly all the way home to Hawaii to get my Nails did."
Her husband's touching post prompted thousands of Dog the Bounty Hunter fans to share their
love and support for the Chapman clan during the difficult time.
One fan tweeted their own message, alongside prayer hands and a red heart emoji, saying,
"Praying for Beth, and you & the whole family.
She will pull through this!!
Much love to you all."
Another person shared,
"Oh, hunni, I'm so sorry.
Beth has always been…
I dunno.
A role model for me.
I was a lost kid for a long time and she always seemed like the kind of person I thought I
should grow up to be.
She's strong while feminine and an absolute goddess.
We're praying for you all."
Another fan of the couple commented,
"Nails full of bling and her heart is full of bling!
Bless you Beth!"
Fans may remember that Beth Chapman, age 51, initially had a tumor removed during her first
battle with stage 2 throat cancer in September 2017.
As we previously reported, news that her throat cancer had returned following a period of
remission first broke in late November 2018.
After experiencing trouble breathing at the time, she was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she required emergency surgery when doctors reportedly
discovered a large cancerous mass in her throat.
The Chapman family's attorney, Andrew Brettler, later confirmed to Us Weekly that Beth had,
quote, "started chemo [in Los Angeles] for throat cancer" in December 2018.
However, she later returned home to Colorado.
There, she eventually explored alternative cancer treatments, such as cannabis-based
CBD and THC.
In January 2019, Beth appeared to hint at her chemotherapy treatments on Instagram,
captioning a snapshot of herself "history in the making," along with the hashtags "cancer
sucks", "stay humble pray," and "it's only hair."
The following month, she wrote in another post,
"We need to all be far more open minded to new treatments.
[...] We no longer need to poison patients to get them well.
#cancersucks."
She also continued to busy herself with work.
"For the last four days I've been chasing bad guys on the big island, and I didn't even
notice I was sick."
According to People, Beth was described as making a reference to having stopped her chemotherapy
treatments altogether during a Mother's Day speech at the Source Church in Bradenton,
Florida in May 2019.
Calling her cancer battle, quote, "the ultimate test of faith," she reportedly revealed,
"Chemotherapy is not my bag, people.
Sorry, that's not for me."
On Sunday, June 23, it was reported that Beth Chapman had been admitted to the intensive
care unit of the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, where she was placed into a medically-induced
coma.
According to TMZ, Beth was hospitalized the day before following a choking emergency after
a 911 call was placed from the home she shares with Dog in Honolulu.
On Monday, June 24, a spokesperson for the Chapman family shared a statement to the media,
saying,
"Duane and the family feel she's such a fighter, she could get better.
The family still has hope."
According to Page Six, Beth's coma was induced to, quote, "spare her pain from her treatment."
For his part, Duane Lee Chapman shared a statement of his own over the weekend, writing on Twitter,
"Please say your prayers for Beth right now.
Thank you, love you."
In a tweet sent out soon after Beth Chapman's death, Duane Chapman relayed the following:
"It’s 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up to go hike Koko Head mountain.
Only today, she hiked the stairway to heaven.
We all love you, Beth.
See you on the other side."
Our thoughts are with them.