Ryan O'Neal Breaks Silence On Farrah: "The Treatment Has Pretty Much Ended"
May 7 2009, Published 11:41 a.m. ET
Ryan O'Neal is breaking his silence about the pain of watching his long-time love Farrah Fawcett succumb to cancer.
"She stays in bed now. The doctors see that she is comfortable. Farrah is on IVs, but some of that is for nourishment. The treatment has pretty much ended," O'Neal told PEOPLE in an emotional and teary-eyed interview.
O'Neal's interview confirms an earlier exclusive story by RadarOnline.com that first broke the heartbreaking news that Farrah's health had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. As RadarOnline has previously reported, Fawcett, 62, has fought anal cancer for the past two and a half years. O'Neal reveals to the magazine that the disease spread long ago to other parts of Fawcett's body, including her liver.
"It's a love story. I just don't know how to play this one. I won't know this world without her," O'Neal said. "Cancer is an insidious enemy."
The actor says a few close friends – including fellow Charlie's Angels stars Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson -- have visited her, and, when able, she likes to watch TV.
Another visitor has been Fawcett and O'Neal's troubled son Redmond, who was allowed a three-hour pass from jail on April 25 to visit his mother at home to say what might be his final goodbye. In his jail-issued jumpsuit and in shackles, Redmond climbed into his sleeping mother's bed and cried. "Oh my gosh, my gosh," he said as he hugged Farrah. ((please link to radar's latest story on remond visiting farrah))
"Farrah doesn't know Redmond's in trouble," said O'Neal. "And Redmond is terrified for his mother. 'I don't want to be in jail and have some guard tell me she is gone,' he said to me. I told him, 'She's rebounding.' I lied to him. I lie to her. It's the best thing." Redmond remains in custody and is awaiting transfer to a lockdown rehab facility.
O'Neal also told PEOPLE that Fawcett has now lost her iconic golden tresses. "The hair is gone. Her famous hair. I have it at home. She didn't care. I rub her head. It's kind of fun, actually, this great, tiny little head. How she carried all that hair I'll never know. She doesn't have a vanity about it."
(Photo: WENN)