Matt Hardy Opens Up About Losing His Mother To Cancer At An Early Age
Retired WWE superstar Matt Hardy was recently a guest on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia. During the interview, he opened up about his mother dying when he was young.
Ruby Moore Hardy died in 1986 of brain cancer when Matt was just 12 years old and his brother Jeff was nine. Hardy detailed his mother's struggles with treatment for the disease and how painful it was to watch her go through that.
"I remember her being sick, and from the time she was diagnosed with cancer she lived almost a year till the day. She went through a lot of tough treatments after surgeries of chemotherapy and radiation," Hardy said. "I just remember her hair falling out and that bothering her so bad, and her wanting to have a wig and feeling uncomfortable going out in public whenever we did, I just remember feeling extremely sad, extremely sad and then when she did eventually get sick and then die, I say this until this day, I never thought she would pass away. I mean, I was like, I am just a kid, my mom can't leave. I couldn't even fathom it happening, and then when she did me, my brother and my dad were all there I remember hearing the lifeline machine go flat. I remember that like it was yesterday."
Hardy also discussed how hard his father was affected by her death, but still having to be strong for his sons. Hardy said his father pushed him and his brother to overcome their grief to honor their mother's memory. They knew she wouldn't want them to wallow in sadness, so they did their best to live as she would've wanted them to.
"I remember too where it was the first time I had seen my dad cry, and we were all sad and were all right there with her where we had that final moment with her where it gives you some closure at least. I remember my dad telling me that we have to be strong and move on because I know that would be what your mother would want. He was right," Hardy said. "It was hard to fathom or understand that type of information the age that Jeff Hardy and I were, but he was right. In life there is going to be ups and downs, good and bad things, and really a lot of the battles in life are won just by how you react to things. There are going to be bad things that will happen, but you cannot allow that to be the end all and be all."
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.