Writer and melanoma awareness advocate Natalie Fornasier has passed away at 28

'My one goal in life was to love'.

Sydney writer and melanoma awareness advocate Natalie Fornasier has died at the age of 28 after a nine-year battle with cancer. Image: Instagram.

Sydney writer and melanoma awareness advocate Natalie Fornasier has died at the age of 28, after a nine-year battle with cancer.

An obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald this week confirmed Natalie passed away on January 14, just months after she married the love of her life, Alexander whilst in palliative care.

"Beloved Wife of Alexander. Much loved Sister of Alex, loving Daughter of Peter & Lorena. Adored Daughter-in-law of Kirsten," the obituary read. "She will be dearly missed by her Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles, Cousins, Natalie’s German family & devoted 'Little Helpers'".

Natalie was first diagnosed with stage-III metastatic melanoma in 2014 after discovering a mole on her toe. She underwent surgery to have the cancer removed, but in 2018 was diagnosed with stage-IIII. In 2022, she shared the news she was terminal, and detailed her journey via her Instagram page.

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"[Terminal] is a word I had been skating around for years, a word that terrified me because I always knew it could be a possibility. But it's also a frame of mind I never anticipated I would have to enter," she wrote at the time.

"As I descended into what it meant to be terminal – I entered the deepest hole of depression I’ve ever experienced. Every day for the past four months I've cried and screamed. I've fallen into oblivion crying for Alexander, the heartbreak, and the love I would be leaving – for the life we were supposed to have.

"I've cried for my family. I've cried myself hoarse about the fear of death. I've screamed for the children I would never have, the growing old, my friends, the life I was supposed to live.

"It's not easy to admit that I'm dying. At 28 years old … everything about it feels wrong. The conversations I've had to have, the plans I've had to make, the places my thoughts have gone and are still going – none of it is natural. It's painful."

As she grieved the life she would never have, she did fulfil her dream of marrying her soulmate, Alexander on November 26, of last year, surrounded by their most cherished loved ones, including the groom's mother who flew in from Germany. "A day filled with love. Thank you to everyone who made our secret wedding happen a few weeks ago," Natalie shared via Instagram, adding, "We may have gotten married in a palliative care facility and not in Italy as once dreamed, but it didn’t matter. Love is all that matters. Truly. Just love."

Natalie's friends created a GoFundMe to help support Alexander and Natalie's family while they navigate this difficult time. If you are able, any donation will go a long way. You can donate here.

A petition has also been created to ban tanning products in Australia, some of which are astonishingly still advertised prominently on social media. The petition explains that, "Australia has the highest skin cancer rate in the world (2020 study, WCRF) and overexposure to UV light from the sun causes 95 percent of melanomas (Melanoma Institute Australia).

"The Department of Health needs to thoroughly investigate the advertising and marketing of tanning products in Australia and act quickly to prevent young people from following dangerous trends generations before them have paid the price for."

"We want to see a ban on advertising products that have no SPF but are designed to be worn in the sun to encourage a tan, and strict regulations around tanning products in general, in particular how they are allowed to be advertised and marketed in Australia."

If you would like to sign the petition, visit here. 

According to Cancer Council Australia, melanoma accounts for 15% of all cancers in Australians aged 15 to 29.

Originally published as Writer and melanoma awareness advocate Natalie Fornasier has passed away at 28