Tragedy as Lady Gaga superfan buys 26 tickets for gig costing $10k to celebrate beating cancer but dies before the show
- Melissa Anne Dabas, 42, had been treated for triple-negative breast cancer
- The Virginia mother-of-two had chemotherapy and a double mastectomy
- She was given the all clear and bought $10,000 worth of Lady Gaga tickets
- But the aggressive cancer returned to her spine and she died before the concert
A Lady Gaga superfan who treated herself to $10,000 worth of concert tickets to celebrate getting the all clear from cancer, died before she could see her idol.
Melissa Anne Dabas had been treated for triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease, and in February was told she was in remission.
The court-appointed advocate, 42, who worked as a PTA volunteer and a fundraiser for disabled children, had undergone a double mastectomy along with grueling rounds of chemotherapy before being told she was cancer free.
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Lady Gaga superfan, Melissa Anne Dabas, 42, of Virginia, who treated herself to $10,000 worth of concert tickets to celebrate getting the all clear from cancer, died before she could see her idol
To treat herself, her friends and even the nurses involved in her treatment, the Virginia mother splashed out on 26 concert tickets to see Lady Gaga in Washington D.C for November 19.
However, as Melissa returned to normal life as a loving mother-of-two, she ignored the back pain until going for her a check-up.
Her husband Jay, a radiologist at the hospital where his wife was treated, examined his wife's scan himself, and broke down after seeing the horrible realization that Melissa's cancer had returned.
'In my mind, I knew. I knew what this meant,' he told the Sentinel.
Melissa, who worked as a PTA volunteer and a fundraiser for disabled children, had undergone a double mastectomy along with grueling rounds of chemotherapy before being told she was cancer free. She bought 26 tickets for friends and family to celebrate her remission with her
His wife, the one always there, quietly keeping family life going, was the strong one.
'She's the one who said. We've gotta do this. We've gotta get back up. We've gotta do this for our kids,' Jay said.
But the brave mother kept going as normal, doing the soccer run, the cleaning and cooking, caring for her children and husband - all the while instructing Jay not to give her a prognosis or timeline.
Tragically, Melissa's cancer returned in an aggressive form and she died of a massive stroke two months before the concert. Her husband is auctioning the tickets for a charitable trust in his wife's name
When her husband asked why, she said: 'Jay, you know and I know that this cancer will probably cause me to die. But please, I beg of you, do not take who I am away from me. I refuse to let you do that, and I refuse to let the cancer do that. Do not take away who I am — ever.'
Jay explained that his biggest regret was his reaction after finding out that Melissa had spent so much money on the tickets in the first place, admitting he feels racked with guilt.
In September, after deteriorating badly, Melissa died of a massive stroke, two months before she was due to see Lady Gaga perform.
In a bid to keep his wife's memory alive, Jay is raffling off 10 of the concert tickets for the box seats to establish the Melissa Anne Dabas Charitable Trust.
The money will be used to support families devastated by the toll of cancer financially, in particular, non-medical expenses.
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