Olivia saved my aunt's life
When Jennifer Love Hewitt thinks of her aunt, it’s her big, infectious laugh that pops into her mind. But the Ghost Whisperer star wasn’t laughing when her favorite aunt was diagnosed with cancer until an angel, in the form of Olivia Newton-John, proved to be the family’s savior.
In an exclusive interview with In Touch, Jennifer opens up about watching her 60-year-old aunt, former Syracuse University professor Dixie Evatt, struggle through breast cancer and how the star of Grease, who battled breast cancer almost a decade ago, helped save her life.
“Dixie has always been a feisty, strong, beautiful and funny woman,” Jennifer, 27, says. “Just like all the women in my family.”
But in late 2005, Dixie was diagnosed with breast cancer. Jennifer and her mom put on brave faces to take care of Dixie through her radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
“There were a lot of tears shed,” Jennifer says. She and her mom did whatever it took to keep Dixie positive.
“I made her a little stuffed radiation bear she could hold if she got scared,” she says. “We did everything we could to make sure she smiled a lot.”
But the pain and stress became too much to handle, and there was a point when Dixie started to lose hope.
So Jennifer called on a famous face for help.
“When I contacted Olivia, she immediately reached out,” she says. The star, 58, called Dixie at exactly the right time and gave her quite a pep talk.
“Olivia’s inspirational words gave her a second wind and, I believe, helped to save my aunt’s life,” says Jennifer.