Sunday Burquest, a contestant on “Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X,” died Sunday morning at the age of 50, her daughter confirmed via a touching social media tribute.
“To my unbelievably beautiful mama, Thank you. Thank you for fighting as hard as you did for as long as you did,” Kennedy Burquest wrote on Instagram, sharing a slideshow of mother-daughter memories. “Thank you for being a best friend, a role model, a sister and my mother all in one. Thank you for raising me to love Jesus and show that love to others. That’s something you did so well.”
Sunday Burquest, a pastor who gained fame competing on the 2016 generational matchup, had been diagnosed in 2020 with both esophageal and ovarian cancer, several years after having beaten breast cancer, Entertainment Tonight reported.
“Here’s my thinking,” she told People magazine at the time of her latest diagnoses. “No one knows how much time you have left. Accidents can happen. Miracles can happen. Someone healthy can die unexpectedly, and someone sick can live for much longer than expected, so I don’t think of this as a death sentence. I think of this as something that has happened and is now a part of my life. And I’m going to live my life as fully as I can.”
Sunday Burquest was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, underwent multiple surgeries and endured both radiation and chemotherapy but was declared cancer-free in time to compete on “Survivor” in 2016, People reported.
She is survived by her husband, four children and two daughters-in-law.