The 29-year-old, who lived in Portland, Oregon, was terminally ill with brain tumour and made the heartbreaking decision to die on her own terms.
“Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me … but would have taken so much more,” she wrote on Facebook.
“The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my best as I type …. Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!”
Brittany began experiencing debilitating headaches shortly after her wedding last year and on New Year’s Day doctors found a brain tumour.
Following invasive treatment to stop the growth of her tumour, Brittany was told in April that it had returned and was now more aggressive, giving her an extremely short life expectancy.
“I went from having potentially years of time to being told I had like six months,” she said in a video for the Brittany Maynard Fund.
After researching her options, the newlywed from California packed up and moved to Oregon, so she could use the ‘Death with Dignity Act’ – a law which allows mentally competent, terminally ill patients to end their life.
Brittany spent the last months of her life travelling. At the end of last month, Brittany visited the Grand Canyon with her husband, mother and stepfather.
