The former Bachelor student Hailey Merkt has died at the age of 31 after a long battle with leukemia.
A social media post on her personal Instagram page after she died confirmed that she had died.
An image of Hailey was included in the post, which said that she had died.
“It is with broken hearts we share that our beloved Hailey has passed away after a courageous fight for her life,” the message said.
“Hailey went on this journey with unimaginable bravery, kindness, and selflessness. Her bravery, determination, and will to live came through in the face of every deadline the doctors gave her. She chose to spend her last moments with family and friends doing what she loved most, with no regrets.
Hailey was described as “highly entertaining, never dull, and fully present in the present moment” in the post.
“Hailey embraced life with an unmatched zest; her beautiful spirit has touched countless lives,” said the caption.
Furthermore, the post said, “Hailey will be deeply missed by all who knew her.” Her love, laughter, and energetic spirit will always be remembered in our hearts. We are sad about her death, but it makes us feel better to know that her spirit will live on in everyone she inspired.
“Rest in peace, Hailey.”
Grieving family members of Hailey have set up a GoFundMe to help them get through this hard time.
The campaign page will stay open until August 10 and has raised more than $112,208 Canadian dollars.
Hailey first appeared on The Bachelor in Season 21 (2017), when she competed for Nick Viall’s heart.
Her elimination happened in the second week of the competition.
Remembering Hailey
“I feel so lucky to know your laugh and thankful to have met the kindest, most delightful person in the strangest places.” Really appreciate your friendship, both online and off…. Hey girl, don’t worry about what a force she is. A contestant on the same season of The Bachelor, Danielle Maltby, wrote in a comment on the post about her death, “So much love to all your people.”
“Oh my goodness!!! That makes me so sad to hear this. I was really hoping she would get better shortly. You can relax, Hailey. “You’ll be remembered always,” Raven Gates wrote.
“I feel lucky to have known such a beautiful solid soul and had such lovely conversations with her.” Ashley Stern wrote, “I’ll never forget you Hailey.”
“I hope you are in a beautiful, peaceful place, my love. “I can’t believe I won’t see you again, but I’ll treasure every memory,” Dominique Alexis wrote.
HAILEY’S FIGHT
Hailey talked openly online about her battle with leukemia.
She celebrated in April that she was “leukemia free,” which gave fans hope.
Three months later, though, things went badly.
“After the bone marrow transplant had taken, she was told she had nine months to not even think about cancer, but in truth she only had 6 weeks before she got the terrible news that leukemia cells were back and moving fast,” a message on her GoFundMe said.
“Her first reaction was to say, ‘I don’t care about myself anymore, but I can’t bear being the cause of so much pain for the people I love.”
While Hailey was fighting cancer, she posted pictures and videos of her progress and setbacks.
She posted a picture of herself smiling while getting treatment in October 2023 and said it was a “rare moment.”
Before she posted that, her feed was full of selfies, dog pictures, modeling photos, and occasional glimpses into her daily life.