In a post filled with heartbreak and gratitude, the actor opened up about the profound loss his family is now facing after his wife lost her long battle with cancer.
Earlier today, March 24, Hallmark actor Brennan Elliott took to Instagram to announce the heartbreaking death of his wife, Camilla Row. In an emotional post, the actor revealed that she passed away at 5:28 a.m. after an eight-year battle with cancer.
“Our babies and I lost our rock, a person who not only was the love of my life, my soulmate, my best friend and lover but the toughest strongest fearless person I have ever met in my life and the greatest mother to her babies,” Elliott wrote.
The actor also thanked fans and supporters from around the world who prayed for Row throughout her cancer journey. “[…] I know my wife @camilla_row would have wanted me to thank every person from all over the world who prayed for her over the last 8 years […],” he shared.Elliott and Row were married in 2011 and shared two children together. She had worked as a clinical psychologist in Orange County, California, and lived a vibrant, active life before her diagnosis.
Follow-up testing confirmed it was an aggressive and rare form of stomach cancer — poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma. The diagnosis came as a shock as Row had no known risk factors. She recalled:
“I didn’t even know you could get cancer in the stomach! I felt intense panic and fear. And I thought it was a death sentence.”
She was young, healthy, and active — a former high school athlete who swam and ran track. She maintained a fit lifestyle, and had met Elliott years earlier at the gym.
Her Korean heritage, however, put her at greater risk than she realized. Gastric cancer is far more prevalent among people of Asian descent, and in South Korea, routine screening for stomach cancer begins at age 35. Row, born and raised in the U.S., hadn’t been screened.Following the diagnosis, she had her stomach removed and completed eight rounds of chemotherapy. For a time, her cancer appeared to be in remission.