I Am Patrick Swayze: Dirty Dancing star's widow Lisa Niemi reveals his heartbreaking last words following new documentary

'I didn’t want to leave the room. I was afraid that suddenly I’d be afraid'
1/24
Megan C. Hills19 August 2019

On Sunday night, the documentary I Am Patrick Swayze delved into the life of Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze and his romance with wife Lisa Niemi. The documentary featured famous faces including Demi Moore, Rob Lowe and Jennifer Grey, who shared memories of their friendship with the star.

Swayze and his wife's love story previously inspired Niemi's biography, Worth Fighting For, which detailed their marriage and the star’s last moments. Swayze passed away of pancreatic cancer in September, 2009 at the age of 57.

Getty Images

Previously, the National Enquirer claimed that a source had told them that Swayze’s final words were, “I’m not afraid to die. I’m going home”, (the article has since been taken down), but Niemi has since revealed that she was with him when he spoke his final words on a Friday evening.

She wrote, “My last words to Patrick? ‘I love you,’ and those were his last words to me.”

Calling Swayze’s battle with cancer the “worst thing in the world to go through”, she said it was “miraculous” that the late star survived 22 months following his cancer diagnosis.

She also described Swayze’s final days in her book excerpt, in which she detailed “holding his hand, listening to music, sleeping with my arm around him” despite the fact that Swayze had already slipped into a coma.

Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi in 2005
Getty Images

She wrote, “In the quiet of Monday morning, September 14, I looked at his face and listened to the tiny sips of air he was taking… I didn’t want to leave the room. I was afraid that suddenly I’d be afraid. I lay back at Buddy’s side, I held his hand and felt his pulse again ... was it? ... was it? And then he didn’t breathe any more.”

Swayze and Lisa Niemi were married in 1975 and were together until his death on September 14, 2009. The pair met as teenagers when Niemi enrolled in dance classes with Swayze’s mother and she refers to him by the nickname ‘Buddy’.

She opened up to Entertainment Tonight about their first meeting and real life Dirty Dancing moment ahead of the documentary, which was released on what would have been Swayze's 67th birthday.

“The first time Buddy and I danced together was at a school exhibition. We walked out on stage. I looked in his eyes, it was like everything came alive,” she said.

Proceeds from Patrick Swayze's estate were donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network following his death and Lisa Niemi is an active supporter of the charity. To learn more about the foundation and donate, you can read more on their website here.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in