A two-time cancer survivor whose husband documented her health battle in viral videos on social media died Tuesday after living a decade with the disease.
Roslyn Singleton’s and her husband Ray Singleton’s love story melted the hearts of millions of viewers when he shared a video serenading his wife. The viral video landed Roslyn and the “America Got Talent” contestant on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and OWN’s “Black Love.”
“It was amazing because my dream came true, No. 1. Shout out to Ellen, and we got to meet Melissa McCarthy who is amazing,” Roslyn told Atlanta Black Star after visiting the once popular daytime show.
Ellen also gave the couple $25,000, which was a welcome surprise. “We didn’t have to work for seven months,” added Rosyln.
Roslyn underwent multiple surgeries and repeated rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, Noviant Health reports, and Ray has been there every step of the way while asking online followers for prayers and support.
The husband shared photos with scars from Roslyn’s surgery, hospital stays and medical treatments, and he made plenty of other posts professing his love for his wife and admiring her beauty while she was alive. Each time Ray serenaded Roslyn, she blushed as though it was the first time.
As he did throughout their journey for the last two years, Ray shared the news of his wife’s death on social media Wednesday. He has nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram.
“Our wife earned her wings yesterday while peacefully sleeping right at home where she wanted to be,” Ray wrote. “This road ahead is going to be INCREDIBLY long & difficult! She taught us all SOMETHING…She’s where we’re all trying to get one day so no need to be sad! Now we celebrate her legacy, her impact, her story & HER SPIRIT!
She will LIVE FOREVER!!”
Who was Roslyn Singleton?
Roslyn Singleton, a U.S. Navy veteran, spent several years abroad before settling with her husband in Charlotte, North Carolina. She served eight years as a Navy yeoman. She was an executive administrative assistant in Iraq, where she completed two tours. She also worked in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Singleton, 39, also had a passion for dressing other people. She worked as a stylist and in 2020, the couple launched a clothing brand, “Eleven-Oh-Four” named after their wedding date and dedicated to their love.
Despite her diagnosis, Singleton lived an active life. She played basketball, softball and volleyball and enjoyed going out to arcades, bowling alleys and golf courses and riding motorcycles.
“I’m a sporty, athletic girl that also likes to watch Snapped on Oxygen,” she told Novocure.
Singleton, who is the daughter of a pastor and a deacon, said she found relief through her faith and watching her father fight his own cancer battle. Her mother died the same year her father was diagnosed. She was informed of her own diagnosis months later.
Roslyn Singleton’s Battle with Cancer
Singleton was first diagnosed with brain cancer in 2013. She had been experiencing migraines and spotty vision. Doctors found a brain tumor the size of an orange.
Still, Singleton beat the disease twice. But after six years in remission, doctors found another tumor during a routine visit in 2019. Singleton was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer that is most often found in older people, more than half are 60 or older, according to Novant Health.
Singleton had to make multiple visits to the doctors each week and had to sleep with a device to monitor for seizures or any irregular brain activity, reports show. Ray’s serenade video went viral in January 2020 as she was preparing for her second brain surgery, but despite four surgeries and several treatments, the cancer continued to spread, Novant Health reported.
The military veteran suspected that she developed cancer from exposure to toxins and hazardous waste in burn pits used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
How Ray and Roslyn Singleton met?
Roslyn and Ray met at a party in Charlotte in 2016. She teased him about wearing sunglasses at night and he later asked her to dance. They bumped into each other again later at a late-night restaurant, and he asked her if he could pray over her food. Roslyn said she knew then that she would marry him.
Ray moved into Roslyn’s place four days after they met, and he proposed to her six months later. They walked down the aisle two years after their first encounter in November 2018.
“I knew immediately that I wanted to marry Ray. The day after we met, I blocked everyone else I was talking to. I was good,” Roslyn told xoNecole.com. “I have only known him for eight hours, but I’m good. This is it. I’m not going to say that we haven’t had our bumps in the road like every couple does, but we found our way to get through. Ray was different.”
The couple hoped to have a baby and even joked about the gender preference. “One and done that’s the plan I’m excited I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl,” said Roslyn. “No, I said I would prefer a boy,” added Ray.
