'Real World: San Diego' Alum Frankie Abernathy Dead At 25
Housemate's struggle with cystic fibrosis was featured on 2004 show.
Frankie Abernathy, the punk rock-adoring former "Real World: San Diego" housemate whose struggle with cystic fibrosis helped to further raise national awareness about the chronic lung disease, died Saturday evening in her mother Abbie Hunter's Shorewood, Wisconsin, home. An official cause of death has yet to be determined; Abernathy was 25.
According to Hunter, Abernathy was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis — a hereditary disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive tract — at the age of 3. She is survived by a sister, Mamie; her mother; stepfather Perry, and her dad, Joe Abernathy, who now resides in Texas.
"It was very sudden," her mother said. "It wasn't something that was expected. She was doing fine, and we really don't know very much yet. It still was kind of a shock, and it just wasn't how we figured things would go. It seems like her little body just gave out."
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/156...612/id_0.jhtml
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