Ben Watkins, the former “MasterChef Junior, contestant died after a battle with a rare form of cancer at only 14-years-old.
According to TMZ, the young chef was diagnosed with angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma, a soft tissue tumor, and was being treated at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
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MasterChef Junior Contestant Ben Watkins Dies After Battle With Cancer
“Despite all the pain and sickness Ben went through, he never complained, not once,” Anthony Edwards, his uncle and legal guardian, told the Chicago Tribune.
Ben had been undergoing chemotherapy for tumors in his spine, shoulder, and lung. He was only one of six people to have this type of cancer in the world.
“We were praying for a different outcome,” added his uncle. “But Ben’s lungs could no longer give him the air he needed to breathe. It’s been devastating.”
Master Chef host Gordon Ramsay expressed his sadness over the loss. “We lost a Master of the @MasterChefJrFOX kitchen today. Ben you were an incredibly talented home cook and even stronger young man. Your young life had so many tough turns but you always persevered. Sending all the love to Ben Watkins’ family with this terrible loss,” Ramsay said in a tweet.
Donations are currently being accepted in Ben’s honor.
No doubt that the young culinary star will be greatly missed by family and friends. “Ben was just so selfless,” his uncle said. “It was unreal, the character he has … he had.”
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