'Did My Best to Be Calm': Anna Cardwell's Husband Recalls Holding Reality Star's Hand in Her Final Moments
Dec. 15 2023, Published 7:30 p.m. ET
Anna Cardwell's husband, Eldridge Toney, stayed strong for his ailing wife in her final moments, revealing he just wanted her to feel at peace.
Cardwell, the oldest daughter of reality TV star Mama June Shannon, died aged 29 months after being diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal carcinoma in January.
"Everyone was crying and freaking out, because we all knew what was happening," Toney shared in a new interview, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Cardwell gave her last breath on the evening of December 9 while surrounded by her loved ones.
"I did my best to be calm for her," Toney told PEOPLE. "I rubbed my hands through her hair, held her hand and told her it was going to be OK."
Toney and Cardwell secretly exchanged their vows in March after her diagnosis. The couple made it official in Wilkinson County, according to their marriage license.
Amid her treatment, Cardwell added wigs and hair extensions to her public Amazon wish list, making the best out of her situation by opting for different styles including a long ombré pink wavy wig with a middle part.
She dealt with hair loss and feeling ill after doctors discovered the disease spread to her liver, kidney, and lung.
Looking forward, Toney said he wants to honor Cardwell's memory and make sure her girls, Kaitlyn Elizabeth and Kylee Madison, are taken care of.
"The day before she passed, we had our talk and said our goodbyes," he said. "Her dying wish was for her girls to grow up knowing who their mother was. And I promised I would do right by the girls always. I will spend my life doing right by Anna and the girls."
RadarOnline.com previously learned that her viewing took place on December 13 from 2 to 3 PM, with the service held after at Williams Funeral Home in Gordon, Georgia.
After the beloved reality star's death, June admitted that she felt completely lost.
"My mind is so emotionally and mentally mindf---ed right now," she said in a candid and emotional video. "It's so quiet in here, the machines aren't running, [Anna's] not sitting in here watching cooking shows, and it's just so quiet."
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"The chair that she was in, nobody is sitting in it right now because it has a blanket and a pillow that she used, and that's where she passed away at."