Ben Watkins, the beloved “MasterChef Junior” contestant who lost his parents to a murder-suicide shortly before his season aired, has died at age 14 after a battle with a rare cancer.
The following written content by Nancy Dillon via New York Daily News
Ben Watkins, the beloved “MasterChef Junior” contestant who lost his parents to a murder-suicide shortly before his season aired, has died at age 14 after a battle with a rare cancer.
His maternal grandmother shared the sad news on a GoFundMe page that was raising money for his treatment and future endeavors before it became a memorial fund.
“Our Ben went home to be with his mother Monday afternoon after a year-and-a-half-long battle with cancer,” his grandmother Donna Edwards and uncle Anthony Edwards said in their joint statement.
“After losing both of his parents in September 2017, we have marveled at Ben’s strength, courage and love for life,” they said. “Ben was and will always be the strongest person we know.”
Watkins appeared on the sixth season of “MasterChef Junior” on Fox, hosted by Gordon Ramsay, when he was only 11 years old.
He placed in the top 18 after first making the cut to be in the top 24. Between filming the show in the first half of 2017 and its airdate a year later, he lost both of his parents to domestic violence, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Shortly after his 13th birthday, he was diagnosed with angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma, an extremely rare, soft tissue cancer.
“Young Ben is one of only six people in the entire world diagnosed with this illness,” his family said on his GoFundMe page.
He underwent treatment at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago before losing his battle with the disease, the family said.
“Ben suffered more than his share in his fourteen years on this earth but we take solace in that his suffering is finally over and in that, in the end, Ben knew he was loved by so many,” his grandmother and uncle said. Read more from New York Daily news.
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