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Australian cancer blogger dies

AN Australian cancer patient who shot to global attention after a tribute video for his wife went viral on the Internet died today in hospital, his family said.

Kristian Anderson, 36, and his young family wound up on television after US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey learned of his Internet video to wife Rachel, to thank her for supporting him after his shock 2009 cancer diagnosis.

Hollywood star Hugh Jackman appeared in the film, "Rachel's Birthday Video", after Anderson contacted him via an Australian radio host.

It was originally posted for the benefit of family members living overseas but soon attracted a global audience of millions, making news headlines worldwide.

Winfrey was so touched by Anderson's story she invited the family onto her show during a special shoot in Australia at the end of 2010, and gave them US$250,000 to take a holiday and help meet medical expenses.

His condition deteriorated sharply in recent months and Anderson's wife said he died just after 8am today at Sydney's Manly Hospital, where he had been for about a fortnight.

"His passing was truly peaceful and he had a tear in his eye as he left," she wrote on his widely-followed blog, on which he chronicled his battle with liver and bowel cancer.

She also shared the final post he managed to write before his death, in which he spoke of his "struggle to find any logical rhyme or reason in all of this".

"Thank you for journeying with me this far. I pray you find the same peace I have," he said.

Anderson's wife said the family planned to broadcast his funeral via the Internet for the tens of thousands of people from across the world who regularly followed his blog.



 

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