Fans of The Bachelor are in mourning this week after the death of the season 21 contestant Hailey Merkt. She passed away last Friday at the age of just 31 after a battle with leukemia.

Merkt Passes Away

Merkt appeared on season 21 of The Bachelor in 2017, competing for the heart of Nick Viall. At the time, she was working as a photographer and a model. Though she was eliminated in the second week of the show, she left a positive impression on fans.

Merkt’s family announced her death on her Instagram page earlier this week. This appeared to be the first post on the page in two months.

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Merkt’s Final Months

A GoFundMe page that was set up to cover Merkt’s medical costs gave further details about her passing.

“After the bone marrow transplant had taken, she was told she had nine months to not even think about cancer, but in truth she only had 6 weeks before she got the terrible news that leukemia cells were back and moving fast,” the page stated. “Her first reaction was to say, ‘I don’t care about myself anymore, but I can’t bear being the cause of so much pain for the people I love.'”

“I am in awe of her. She had such clarity and independence and grace,” the page added. “She decided she wanted to live every last minute she had to the fullest: being with the people she loved and doing the things she loved, and she loved doing so many simple things.”

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Nick Viall Speaks Out

Nick Viall, who was the bachelor on Merkt’s season of The Bachelor, has since broken his silence about her death.

“Hailey was on my season of The Bachelor. She left week 2,” Viall said on his podcast The Viall Files. “I didn’t really get to know her very well at all, but I very much vividly remember her, and I remember her to be very sweet and kind.”

“She struggled with a very tough battle of leukemia it sounds like, and recently passed away, so our love and hearts go out to her family, who are obviously going through it,” he continued. “It sounds like she really put up a very courageous fight, and, unfortunately, she is with us no more. But very sad to see that she passed, and we’re definitely praying for her and her family.”

The GoFundMe page that was set up for Merkt will remain active until August 10. Any further donations will go to helping her family with any further expenses they may be hit with surrounding her untimely death.

Please join us in saying a prayer for Merkt’s family and friends during this tragic time.

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