Chicago

Chance the Rapper Mourns Loss of Aunt, Honors Her By Sharing Her Video

Kimberly Bennett had battled inflammatory breast cancer for a year

Chance the Rapper revealed Tuesday that his aunt has passed away from cancer, but she had one last message she wanted him to share after her death.

Kimberly Bennett had battled inflammatory breast cancer for a year.

“My Auntie Kim lost her battle with Breast Cancer early Sunday morning,” the Chicago rapper tweeted Tuesday morning. “She was a warrior and wanted me to share this.”

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The tweet was posted along with a YouTube video from the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation. In the video, Bennett is seen talking about her diagnosis.

“I first realized something was wrong, I, my breast was going from purple to burgundy, and it was hot and it was getting bigger and warmer and it was painful,” Bennett says at the start of the video. “And so I knew something was wrong, but I just thought that it was just an infection — they come, they go.”

That’s when she went to an urgent care to get an ultrasound and mammogram.

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type of breast cancer that “develops rapidly, making the affected breast red, swollen and tender,” according to Mayo Clinic.

“Inflammatory Breast Cancer is commonly misdiagnosed and doesn't come with the same symptoms,” Chance later tweeted.

Bennett says in the video that those diagnosed at stage three are often told they have a chance to live. 

“But when you’re stage four, they say, ‘We’re going to keep you comfortable until you die,’” she said.

Bennett was stage four.

“The goal of this cancer is to kill you and to kill you fast and so the only thing that you can do to help yourself is to respond and react as fast as you can,” she said at the end of the video. “That’s the only thing that will save your life.”

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