Whitney Way Thore, who has starred on My Big Fat Fabulous Life since 2015, announced the passing of her mother, Barbara Thore, on Thursday via a touching Instagram post. Barbara, who also starred on the show, gained a following of her own as fans took a liking to her attitude, and overall outlook on life.
The Instagram post featured a video montage of Barbara, but it was the caption that will truly make your heart melt. Whitney had a lot to say as she not only explained the cause of death and her mother’s final moments, but also the impact her mother had on those around her – including her fans, who she adored.
“Rest In Peace, Sweet Mommy. June 22, 1946—December 7, 2022. My mother died last night just as the credits rolled on her favorite movie. Dad, Hunter, and I held her as she took her last breaths. It was 10:32pm, the same exact time she brought me into this world almost forty years ago,” Whitney wrote.
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Whitney Way Thore went on to explain that her mother had cerebral amyloid angiopathy at the time of her death, which is ‘an untreatable progressive condition caused by proteins in the blood vessels of the brain that can cause dementia, seizures, or like in my mom’s case, brain bleeding (hemorrhagic strokes).’
Barbara Thore had her first stroke in 2017. Her second stroke came in 2021 – just three days after Christmas. And her third stroke occurred on November 13, 2022. “My mother is our family’s greatest gift. We could never love, revere, or value another person more,” Whitney continued in her Instagram tribute.
Whitney spoke of her mother’s ‘southern charm, her hilarious sense of humor, her well-timed witty remarks, her beauty, and her ability to make everyone around her feel comfortable and cared for.’ It’s something fans got to witness on MBFFL, but Whitney says it was much more magnified than that.
Apparently fans didn’t get to see the ‘full extent’ of Barbara’s love. “What you may have witnessed and felt through a TV screen is a minute fraction that, even if multiplied by a million, wouldn’t come close to ‘real life.’ That’s how enormous, how generous, and how all-encompassing my mother’s love was,” she wrote.
Whitney Way Thore Says Her Mother Loved Her Newfound Fame
To conclude her caption, Whitney Way Thore took some time to thank everyone for loving her mother in the years leading up to her death. While we didn’t get to see nearly enough of her on My Big Fat Fabulous Life, we saw enough to know that she had a good heart and was loved by those close to her.
She delighted in her newfound television career more than we can describe! It gave her such a sense of purpose and excitement and something to look forward to every time the crew came around. This last year navigating life after her second stroke was, perhaps surprisingly, the best of our lives,” she wrote.
“The support from all of you made her feel so loved and encouraged. We are unbelievably thankful that we’ve been able to share her with you and it is our hope that her memory will continue to be a source of comfort and happiness for the rest of your lives, just as it will be for ours,” Whitney Way Thore continued.
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Season 10 of My Big Fat Fabulous Life came to an end after the 12th episode aired on TLC on October 25th. Although the show hasn’t been renewed, it hasn’t been canceled either and many believe the show will be picked up for an 11th time at some point. Right now, Whitney has more important things to tend to.
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