Olivia Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer almost 30 years ago. She died from the disease in August. Photo / WireImage
Olivia Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer almost 30 years ago. She died from the disease in August. Photo / WireImage
Dame Olivia Newton-John was “not in pain” before she died.
The Grease actress died last August aged 73 after a long battle with breast cancer.
Her devastated husband John Easterling has opened up on her final days, admitting he is happy she retained a “quality of life”.
He told Australia’s Daily Telegraph newspaper: “She was very clear and very alive and very conscious and not in pain. So there was a quality of life there at that time that I think is so critical.”
Easterling praised Olivia’s “uncommon ability to care” and admitted he thought she would have been surprised by the outpouring of grief from around the world after her death.
“All the accolades... she would kind of brush that off,” he said.
“She was just busy focusing on living her life being a joyful spirit.”
Olivia Newton-John's devastated husband John Easterling has opened up on the star's final days. Photo / Getty Images
Earlier this week, Easterling remembered the Xanadu singer - who he married in 2008 - as “the most courageous and compassionate woman” he had ever met.
Speaking at the G’Day USA Gala in Los Angeles, he said: “We shared a love and a happiness on an order of magnitude that I didn’t even think was possible.
“Olivia and I unexpectedly, madly, deeply, forever fell in love in the Amazon rainforest.
“For the past 15 years, I’ve been blessed to share the depth and the passion of her being.
“Every day with Olivia was a bit of magic. Every day with Olivia was supernatural.
“She was the most courageous and compassionate woman that I’ve ever known, with a calming capacity to genuinely care about other people.”
Easterling also remembered how his wife gave her name to cancer research centres in Australia and the United States after she battled breast cancer three times.
He said: “There’s an old adage that like attracts like, and Olivia knew that her voice and her huge profile of talents were a gift. Her legacy continues as a joyful, healing spirit who is continuously focused on moving things, in her words, ‘into the love and the light’.”
