Just weeks after Angelina Jolie decided to get a double mastectomy the actress' aunt, Debbie Martin, died from breast cancer, E! News reports.
Martin, 61, was the younger sister of Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who died from ovarian cancer in 2007. The death of her mother inspired Jolie to get her surgery which the actress described in a May 14 op-ed in the New York Times.
According to Martin's husband, Ron Martin , she had the same defective BRCA1 gene that Jolie has but didn't know it until she was diagnosed with cancer in 2004.
"Had we known, we certainly would have done exactly what Angelina did," Ron Martin said in a phone interview with the Associated Press.
He said after being diagnosed with breast cancer, his wife had her ovaries removed preventively because she was also at a very high genetic risk for ovarian cancer. The disease has already killed several women in their family.
"Angelina has been in touch throughout the week and her brother Jamie has been with us, giving his support day by day," Martin told E!. "They both loved Debbie very much and although Angie is not able to come right now she has sent her love and support which was very nice."
Jolie, 37, said in her op-ed that she had an 87 percent risk of getting breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of getting ovarian cancer. She chose to have her breasts removed first, reducing her risk of getting breast cancer to 5 percent.
She said she wrote the op-ed in hopes that other woman would benefit from her experience.
"We have seen Angelina a number of times since Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer and Debbie and I were both very proud of recent decision to have the double mastectomy and to do everything she can to keep her family from having to go through what we've been through," he said.
