Teenager Describes How She's Planning Out Her Final Days — 'My Funeral Dress Is Hanging In My Closet’
While losing one’s life at a young age is tragic, this teen refuses to be labeled as such.
Jam Press / Eden Lewis; Hannah Ohnivenko / Getty Images via Canva Eden Lewis is a 17-year-old from South Wales whose teenage experience has differed from that of her peers.
In 2020, Lewis was diagnosed with bone cancer. She went through several round of chemotherapy and had surgery to remove a tumor from her thigh. Three years after her initial diagnosis, Lewis has developed a terminal form of Osteosarcoma, and the cancer has spread to her lungs.
The teenager is taking back her power in her final days, fulfilling her last wishes and planning her own funeral celebration.
Lewis has a list of things she wants to do before she leaves this Earth, and she’s doing everything she can to make her dreams come true.
She wants to try glass painting, learn to make sushi and donuts, and eat dinner at her favorite restaurant — activities that allow her to try something new, cultivate her creativity, and enjoy the company of her family and friends.
Certain aspects of her wish list aren’t feasible, Lewis explained, but the people in her life have gathered around her to see that she gets as close as she can.
Photo: Jam Press / Eden Lewis
“I’d love to go to Disneyland, but unfortunately it’s not possible due to my health. So some women my mum knows have arranged a special Disney-themed afternoon for me and I can’t wait,” Lewis stated.
Her parents gifted her tickets to see Harry Styles in concert, an artist who she credits with getting her through her hardest times.
“My favorite song is 'Watermelon Sugar,' it chills me right out and has helped me focus when I’ve been afraid,” she said. “Harry’s songs ‘Sign of the Times’ and ‘As It Was’ speak loudly to me and feature in my funeral playlist that I’m putting together. So many lines in his songs help me with how I feel in this journey with cancer and of when I have to leave this world.”
Lewis’ life might be cut short, but she’s reclaiming her power by planning how she wants to be celebrated after she’s gone.
In addition to putting Styles’ music on her funeral playlist, Lewis has spoken with a funeral director about how she wants the event to unfold.
“I’ve spoken of how I’d like a black horse and carriage, with deep purple plumes and rugs, along with a wicker coffin,” she explained.
“My funeral dress hangs in my wardrobe, waiting for my funeral. I’ve chosen two very special charities for people to make donations to and I want people to wear their favorite colours, so my funeral becomes a rainbow of colors.”
Lewis wants her funeral to be a celebration of how she’s lived — boldly, vibrantly, and surrounded by love.
Photo: Jam Press / Eden Lewis
She explained the complex emotions that have accompanied her along her cancer journey.
“While I was in hospital and missing school it felt like my friends had grown up and moved forward in life without me,” she said. “They had boyfriends and girlfriends while I had blood tests and toxic chemicals.”
So much of Lewis’ fight against cancer made her feel like she was a different person than she’d known herself to be. “I was no longer me, I was a new me, mentally and physically,” she expained. “Even now I’m constantly exhausted and in pain 24/7.”
“I miss out on so much,” she stated, a truth that can’t be denied. Yet it seems that Lewis is able to acknowledge the losses she suffers along with joy of living out her last days exactly how she wants to.
While losing one’s life at a young age is tragic, Lewis herself refuses to be labeled as such. She’s living the life she has as a celebration of who she is and what she loves, full of art, music and community, and she’s ensuring that her passing will be compassionately commemerated.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers relationships, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.