Our hearts are all kinds of warm right now!
Shailene Woodley has been making people’s emotions soar with her role The Fault in Our Stars, and now we know the woman behind the story!
Hazel Grace Lancaster was actually inspired by the real life cancer-fighter Esther Earl, who succumbed to thyroid cancer at 16 years old.
Esther was a friend of author John Green, who characterized her as:
“… young, blessed with a genuinely sophomoric sense of humor, silly, empathetic, madly in love with her friends and family, and a very gifted writer.”
Aww! That’s so sweet!
From 2006 to 2010, Esther bravely fought her illness with a smile on her face, which sparked some YouTube popularity!
As for how she and TFIOS author came to meet, they first chatted at a Harry Potter conference in 2009, which only makes Esther more awesome! After that meeting, the two remained friends until Esther passed.
BUT John vowed to make her live on, saying in a video:
├óΓé¼┼ôEven though Esther has died we will continue to do work with her because it will be when we work to decrease world suck and when we show our love for others that Esther will be with us most.”
The brave teen├óΓé¼Γäós parents, Wayne and Lori, also started a foundation called This Star Won’t Go Out, which helps families who have children struggling with cancer. They also released a book that├óΓé¼Γäós filled with Esther├óΓé¼Γäós drawings, journals, and other things to help keep her memory alive!
Beyond writing TFIOS, Green and his brother have vowed to post a video every year on August 3, which is Esther’s birthday (Green calls it ‘Esther Day’)!
And fun fact: Esther means ‘star’ in Persian, so that’s where all of the star references come from!
You can only learn so much about a person by reading about them, so ch-ch-check out this perezcious video Esther made shortly before her death (below)!
[Image via WENN.]
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