By Lillie Liska
BLUE BLOODS actor and comedian Alex Duong died on Saturday, his GoFundMe page announced. He was 42.
“With the heaviest hearts, we share that our dear Alex passed away peacefully this morning, surrounded by love and dear friends. He was comfortable and thankfully out of pain,” Hilarie Steele, who started the fundraising page, said in an update.
Duong was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive kind of cancer, USA Today said. The Cleveland Clinic defines rhabdomyosarcoma as “a rare soft tissue cancer.”
NBC News said he received the diagnosis after a headache developed behind his eye last year, followed by a left eye bulge. He had a tumor blocking blood flow to his optic nerve.
Steele said that Duong’s wife Christina and daughter Everest “were able to see him last night, and he was alert enough to say goodbye to his little girl, whom he has treasured every moment since the day she was born.”
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“We are devastated, but so grateful for the support, prayers, and generosity you have all shown during this unimaginable time,” she continued.
In a post on March 29, Steele thanked fans and followers for their prayers and financial contributions to support Duong’s family.
“Your support is carrying them through the hardest time of their lives,” she said.
Duong had gone into septic shock on Friday, Steele said previously.
At the time, she said he was “fighting for his life” and that “everything has changed so quickly.”
Not long after his initial cancer diagnosis, he lost sight in his left eye.
“The comedian told the Times that he spent much of the following year managing ‘excruciating back pain’ and frequenting hospitals to undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy — despite struggling to meet guild minimums for health insurance as a member of SAG-AFTRA,” PEOPLE reported.
Eventually the tumors pushed on his brain, and he began to have seizures.
He was back in the hospital for another round of chemotherapy on March 12, as tumors on his spine took a “heavy toll on his body,” per Steele.
“Christina continues to work full-time while caring for Alex and their five-year-old daughter, Everest,” Steele wrote in an update on GoFundMe at the time. “The emotional and physical weight of everything happening is enormous, and some days it’s hard to even process it all.”
“And yet, Everest continues to bring light into their lives,” she added. “Children have a way of reminding us to keep going, even in the hardest moments.”
Duong played Sonny Le on BLUE BLOODS from 2021 to 2024. Other notable roles included credits on PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and 90210.
Please keep Duong’s family and friends in your prayers as they mourn his death.
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