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She probably has only five years to live so Madison Baloy is determined to make every day count. And the American has drawn up an impressive bucket list to ensure she achieves everything she wants to do.
Madison has already ticked off quite a few dreams off her list, including meeting celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay; climbing Arizona's Camelback Mountain; rocking the decks with her favourite DJs Loud Luxury and being a guest speaker on Taylor Lautner’s podcast.
But there are still many wishes that remain for cancer-stricken Maddy (26) from Florida in the US – the main one being to have a beautiful wedding with her fiancé, Louis Risher. In an interview with People magazine she revealed how Gordon is helping her make this dream a reality.
“I do not have a lot of money, but Gordon offered to take care of the food," she says. "He's just the coolest man in the world."
She adds that she feels “lucky” after receiving other offers of help from sponsors keen to cover her wedding dress, venue and entertainment
@fruitsnackmaddy i climbed a mountain with terminal cancer! #cancer #stageivcancer #camelbackmountain #terminalcancer #bucketlist #hopecord #fyp ? original sound - Zach Bryan Archive
Maddy was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer a year ago after months of battling stomach problems and other issues.
“Lights were too bright, everything was too loud, causing pain and ringing in my head, I was sweating and I couldn’t stop dry heaving," she says.
A CT scan showed that something very wrong with her large intestine. She was rushed in for emergency surgery but when doctors operated they discovered that her intestine was being compressed by multiple tumours – too many for them to remove.
Although Maddy was devastated by the diagnosis she decided to share her chemo journey on social media in the hope it would inspire others. Then she started making plans about how she could get the most out of the time she had left.
“My mind shifted and I was like, ‘I am going to get every ounce of life that I can out of this’,” she says.
“There’s nothing we can do so I may as well have some fun."
She previously admitted that it was a bit challenging for her to open up on social media.
“I was really scared that people were only going to see me for cancer and forget who I was,” she said in a previous interview.
But she has persisted in the hope she can change people's mindset around cancer and death in general.
@fruitsnackmaddy @LOUD LUXURY X DJ FRUIT SNACK?? MORE TIME ON STAGE TO COME!!! In the meantime, the biggest and eternal thank you to Loud Luxury and the Fu¢k Cancer organization for setting up this amazing experience. So fun so cool so special :) AND we got to give back?! Luckiest girl in the world:) #stageivcancer #terminalcancer #stageivcancer #bucketlist #loudluxury #dj #edm #rave ? These Nights - Loud Luxury
By the time she turns 27 she hopes to have ticked off all 19 wishes on her bucket list.
Although she's been told she probably has five years to live, there are no guarantees.
“I've been told several times that just based on my X-rays, I should be dead right now," she says.
SOURCES: PEOPLE.COM, USTODAY.COM
