True to her name, MTV reality star, Diem Brown truly did live every day and face every challenge with a force that would have anybody shout, Carpe diem! Seize the day!
After a decade long battle with ovarian cancer, Brown passed away at the age of 32. Reportedly, she collapsed on the set of MTV's The Challenge in Panama, which would have been her 8th season to appear on the highly physical and competitive show which shot her to fame.
Brown was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was only 23 years old and underwent surgery to remove one of her ovaries, part of her fallopian tube, and several lymph nodes. Only a few weeks afterwards, she went on to begin filming her first appearance on MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge in Australia, without telling her castmates that she was ill so that she would not get special treatment.
During her 8 year stint on the show, Brown captured audiences' heart with her determination to succeed, not just because of the prize money, but so serve as an inspiration for everyone living with cancer and going through hardships as she did.
"I'm so fortunate to have a platform as I know I'm not the only one out there going through something like this. I promise to keep trucking along if for nothing else but others who need to know it is possible to beat this horrible disease once and for all!" she once said in an interview.
According to Brown, one of the most empowering moment for her on the show was when she removed her wig to partake in a ring toss in the mud challenge even though she was initially embarrassed to show on-camera that she lost her hair during chemotherapy. But with the support of her then-boyfirend and cast mate, Chris "CT" Tamburello, she bravely took off the wig and won the challenge.
When she began filming The Challenge: Rivals II, Brown was only 2 weeks out of chemotheraphy, suffering a relapse in 2012. During that time, she also was told that the cancer had spread to her colon.
In August, Brown was diagnosed with cancer again, and this time it had spread to her liver and lymph nodes as well.
Her passing hits all her fans hard who have followed her incredible strength and spirit over the years and who have watched her grow as a competitor, an entertainment reporter, and as an advocate for cancer survivors.
