Jessi Zazu, the former lead singer of Nashville country-garage band Those Darlins, was diagnosed with cancer seven months ago. While initial treatments over the summer seemed to be effective, the cancer has since returned and spread, forcing further medical care. To help with the costs, Zazu has launched a fundraising website at YouCare and is selling “Ain’t Afraid” t-shirts.
In a statement, Zazu said she was diagnosed with cervical cancer just one week after finishing her final tour with Those Darlins, who broke up in early 2016. “I decided to go forth with treatment and try to beat it,” she said. “I spent eight weeks of chemo and radiation treatment this summer…all the treatment was working.”
But in November, she said doctors told her the cancer had returned and spread to her lymphatic system. “This is typically what they would call a ‘no cure scenario,’ but I refuse to believe that to be the case,” she wrote in her statement. “I feel healthy, happy, hopeful, determined, positive, and full of sparks and nails. In a sense: there’s a tumor growing on my body, I don’t know what lays in store, but I ain’t afraid anymore. Yes, I guess I am a mystic mind after all.”
To help pay for chemotherapy, Zazu is hoping to raise $30,000 via YouCare.
Also Read
Those Darlins’ Jessi Zazu Dead at 28
Zazu also released a video statement about her diagnosis during which a friend shaves her head in advance of her chemo treatments, which are set to begin in a couple of weeks.
“I just want everyone to know that I am a fighter and that I will never give up,” she said at the video’s end. Watch it below.
