Rihannais mourning the loss of a dear fan.
On Thursday, the Grammy-wining songstress paid sweet tribute to a beloved fan named Monia who recently passed away after a third battle with cancer.
“Navy Angels! This Christmas, we lost a beautiful spirit who was such a pillar of strength to us!” the songstress penned on social media. “Most of our friendship she’s spent in a hospital or doctor’s office! This picture was just a few months ago, she looked at me and said ‘Rih the cancer is back’ I’ll never forget the fear in her eyes this day!”
The star shared a selfie she took with Monia at the Savage X Fenty London pop-up shop in June. Monia smiled into the camera while Rihanna made a kissy face.
“ME AND MY FAVE RIHANNA,” she captioned a similar photo of them taking a picture together at the time. “Yesterday was so special!! thank y‘all for being happy with me.”
The women stayed in touch with Rihanna often liking Monia’s social media posts and leaving comments and Monia visiting the singer at meet-and-greet events.
“Sis we are all praying for you! Your strength and your ability to let the beauty in your spirit shine through, even in the midst of adversity, is tremendously inspiring!!” the star commented on Monia’s final Instagram photo. “Thank you for continuing to share your journey with us! I imagine it’s quite a lonely one, hours on end in hospital walls, being scared to even fall asleep because you’re afraid u won’t wake up, feeling like nobody will ever understand that, the physical agony, the medication and all their side effects…I can’t begin to imagine what you feel, so I want you to know we are all here for you and I encourage the NAVY to rally around you during these times! Love you!”
As Rihanna concluded her touching message in memory of her dear friend and fan, “Still she pushed forward, fighting the fight everyday with the Navy behind her supporting her every step of the way! We are all heartbroken about this!!! You will never be forgotten! Love you my angel @moniasto fly in peace.”