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Tabloids, take note: when a celebrity is fighting for their life, try to be optimistic. Patrick Swayze's widow, Lisa Niemi, is not happy with the pessimistic attitude tabloids took during her husband's battle with pancreatic cancer.
"We did our our best not to let it influence our lives, but when there's a headline saying he's dying and there's a picture of his father's and sister's grave and an arrow pointing to where he's going to be buried...," Niemi told Fox News. "One of the things that's most precious to a person when they're fighting a deadly cancer is their ability to hope, and when there's something there reminding you that in all likelihood you're going to die, that does a lot to hurt that hope."
Swayze died on Sept. 14, 2009, after battling the disease since 2008 -- and the tabloids covered the "Dirty Dancing" star's health by painting a pretty grim picture. For example, in March 2009, the cover of the National Enquirer said, "Patrick Swayze: The End."
But it seems Swayze had a glass half-full mentality during his cancer battle, as the actor responded by telling People magazine, "It's amazing to me that the tabloids, such as the National Enquirer, print such negative stories about me and my health when there are so many positive things going on in my life right now. I've started a new chemotherapy and, once again, I am one of the lucky ones with pancreatic cancer that is responding well to the treatment."
Swayze added, "I hope in the future, the press will think twice about printing inaccuracies and painting an unpleasant picture when I have so much to be thankful for at this time."
While the actor has passed on, perhaps his widow will look out for other celebrities facing health scares-- and remind those pesky tabloids to "think twice" about what they print.