When British pro boxer Georgia O’Connor died at age 25, she was less than two weeks removed from marrying her longtime partner Adriano Cardinali.
Cardinali was by O’Connor’s side throughout her battle with an undisclosed type of cancer, which doctors formally diagnosed earlier this year. Though not much is known about Cardinali’s private life, O’Connor shared plenty through her own social media accounts.
“If you have a man who loves you more than anything, who would burn the whole world down before he’d let it take you, hold onto him, because that kind of love is rare,” she wrote via Instagram, four days after revealing her diagnosis.
O’Connor added that Cardinali quit his job “without a second thought” to help her in her fight.
“Whilst the doctors who neglected me are stuck in their ways, he’s out there driving across Europe, finding treatments they don’t even know exist,” she continued. “Researching day and night, chasing down every option, making sure I have every single chance to beat this.”
“I have never known love like this,” she said. “A love that doesn’t flinch, doesn’t break, doesn’t even hesitate. A love that says ‘we do this together, no matter what.’ No matter how dark the nights get, no matter how hard the days are, I have him, and he has me.”
In the months that followed her diagnosis, O’Connor continued to update her fans on her condition, revealing she suffered a miscarriage and that her cancer was incurable. But just one day after sharing the news of her miscarriage, she posted a touching tribute to Cardinali via Instagram for his birthday.
“You are not just my boyfriend but my truest and closest friend,” she wrote. “You are the funniest person I have ever met and make me laugh like crazy even when I don’t feel like smiling. We have been through so much together, things that no couple should go through but we always get through because nothing can ever break us 🤜🏼🤛🏼.”
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The two married on May 9 and O’Connor made the announcement three days later, posting a photo of each of their hands, rings fully visible.
Her promoter, Boxxer, announced O’Connor’s death 10 days later.
“We are heartbroken by the passing of Georgia O’Connor,” the organization said in a statement. “A true warrior inside and outside the ring, the boxing community has lost a talented, courageous and determined young woman far too soon.”
“Georgia was loved, respected and admired by her friends here at Boxxer,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts are with her loved ones at this difficult time.”
