The longtime spouse of American actor Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, has shared the last things he said to her before going into a coma. Learn what he said to her.
Patrick Swayze was a celebrated actor, dancer, and singer known for some of the memorable starring roles he appeared in throughout his career. He starred in a number of successful movies, including “Ghost,” “To Wong Foo,” “Thanks for Everything,” and “Point Break.”
In addition to being a well-known actor, Swayze was wed to Lisa Niemi for 34 years. She supported him through every tragedy he endured in his lifetime over the course of their three-decade marriage.
Niemi was also present when Swayze died and when he said his final words before going into a coma. Learn the meaning of those words as well as every detail of Swayze’s life and final months.
In an excerpt from her book “Worth Fighting For Love, Loss, and Moving Forward,” Niemi recounts her first encounter with Swayze.
When she was 14 years old, she saw him for the first time at Houston Music Theater. Then, Niemi’s theatrical company combined with Swayze’s mother’s dancing school. According to Niemi, Swayze was:
“Patrick had a reputation as a Casanova, was buff and tan, and had a brilliant smile. I wasn’t just a wallflower.”
As they entered and exited the theater, they came into contact for the first time. Swayze leaned down and gave Niemi a bottom pinch.
After that, he called out to her in a playful and cheerful manner, “Hey there, cutie.” Niemi, though, rolled her eyes and murmured, “Oh, brother,” before walking by him.
Niemi claimed that the decision to marry Swayze was made suddenly. Five years after they first met, they began discussing the future, but most of their exchanges focused on their aspirations to become professional dancers.
The two were sharing a small flat in New York City. Niemi said that when Swayze wrapped his arms around her, they were engaged in a tickling war.
His face flushed when she asked about the problem. “Why don’t we do it?”, he then questioned. “Why don’t we tie the knot?” The couple got married on June 12th, 1975.
When Swayze was a child, his mother Patsy, who founded the Houston Jazz and Ballet Company, taught him how to dance. As a perfectionist, Patsy had an impact on her kid. Frank Whiteley, a friend of Swayze, said:
His mother’s incessant insistence that he “needs to be perfect” served as his life’s inspiration.
Swayze’s father, Don, also known as Big Buddy, was an amateur boxer and rodeo rider. In his autobiography, Swayze referred to his father as a kind-hearted cowboy, saying:
Our family was founded on him, and he was the rock. a reliable and consistent presence in our lives. In some ways, my father took better care of us than my mother did.
Swayze excelled at sports and, thanks to his mother’s instruction, was a superb ballet dancer. He wanted to play football, but his aspirations were crushed when, at the age of 18, he suffered a terrible knee injury while playing.
Doctors informed Swayze that he would never be able to walk normally again after the accident. But he was determined to disprove the medical professionals, so he started taking dance lessons as part of his recovery.
Eventually, a nasty infection in his wounded knee forced Swayze to give up his ambitions of pursuing a career in ballet. He struggled to adjust to life without ballet and subsequently remarked:
“I spent years attempting to fill the gap left by leaving the ballet.”
Swayze, who was devastated to have to stop his dance career, transitioned into acting. He relocated to Los Angeles, where his debut picture, “Skatetown USA,” won praise from reviewers and moviegoers. The part ultimately resulted in the TV show “The Renegades.”
After his adored father’s unexpected death from a heart attack just as his career was about to take off, Swayze experienced yet another loss. Don was 57 years old and it was 1982. When Swayze’s father passed away, he was in an unending amount of anguish and started drinking heavily. He stated:
“I never really drank, but one of the first things I did after my father passed away was to get a case of Budweiser, which was his favorite beer.”
Swayze drank a lot of the beer despite not liking the flavor in an effort to become inebriated. But no matter how much he drank, the ache would not go away. He thus carried on drinking.
Following his collapse, Swayze began a lifelong struggle with alcoholism and despair. When his father passed away, he apparently discovered a way to deal, but his method ended up being self-destructive, according to his former agent Kate Edwards.
Edwards continued by saying that Swayze was unsure of how to express or put his emotions. Additionally, he was unsure of what to do or how to react.
Swayze and Niemi were married for 34 years but never had children. But it wasn’t because they didn’t want to.
Niemi discussed her and her late husband’s devotion to children during the August 2019 Paramount Network documentary “I Am Patrick Swayze,” according to Closer Weekly:
“We both adored children and had always hoped to have our own. I did get pregnant, however, I miscarried the baby. Who knew miscarriages were as emotionally taxing as they are? It was quite tragic.”
Swayze flourished in his career after appearing in “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost,” but sorrow struck in 1990 when Niemi experienced a miscarriage. He stated in his autobiography:
“I had been so thrilled that day to go and see my baby’s heartbeat, but he had passed away. I was unable to manage it. Lisa and I both sobbed vehemently when we arrived in the parking lot, holding each other close.
“I grieved like I hadn’t in years since my father passed away,” he continued. “We both still get emotional when we talk about that day.”
After accepting a role in “Father Hood,” Swayze’s unhappiness and drunkenness reached new heights. He played a mafia lord who went through a dilemma after learning how to be a father in the movie.
Swayze was consuming so much alcohol that he had to be awakened numerous times during filming after passing out. He finished the movie, though, and made the decision that he needed to handle the situation.
Doctors informed Niemi on a Monday that they had reached that conclusion.
Swayze made every effort to deal with the situation, but his sadness persisted. He also struggled with his reputation as a sex symbol and fought hard to be seen seriously as an actor.
But in the 1990s, his career began to wane, and in 1994, he went through yet another tragedy when his sister Vicky committed suicide.
Swayze nearly lost his ability to move after being thrown from a horse in 1997. As a result, he broke both of his legs and found comfort in the bottle.
Swayze would sometimes appear inoffensive for weeks before exploding into anger, especially when the topic of fatherhood was brought up.
Due to his problems, his relationship with Niemi also weakened, and in 2004 they briefly broke up. However, the pair got back together after taking a career hiatus and buying a secluded property in New Mexico.
Swayze spent a lot of time riding horses and appeared happier, but his joy was short-lived until he was given a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2008.
In her essay in the Daily Mail, Niemi described how they learned of his diagnosis. She claimed that on New Year’s Eve 2008, they were at a friend’s house. Swayze scowled but kept silent as the toast was made after raising the cups.
He asked her if his eyes seemed yellow the following week when he approached her. She said they did, and advised them to visit a doctor.
Swayze had a tumor on the head of his pancreas, according to tests and imaging. Later, test results from the hospital revealed he had pancreatic cancer.
Swayze, however, was unaware right away since Niemi learned about it first and kept it from him. The prognosis was given to Swayze the following morning by a young surgeon. Swayze swiftly glanced at his wife as alarm began to rise in his eyes.
The worst thing in the world to go through, according to Niemi, was Swayze’s battle with the illness, she said in an ET interview. She uttered:
“You battle for that person’s life every day. I am aware that he fought for his rights every day.Given his illness, it was astonishing that he lived for 22 months.
Niemi confirmed in the Daily Mail piece that she and Swayze celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary on June 12, 2008, at their property in New Mexico.
She claimed that after he felt better and his treatment was steady, they began spending as much time as they could together.
She prepared food for a picnic that she could heat over a fire for their anniversary, and they headed to their favorite camping location. After eating lunch, they relaxed and took in the afternoon’s events while surrounded by the comforting scent of pine.
In late June, the couple gathered all the cattle at the “Burro Pasture” with the assistance of friends. The fresh calves were treated and brandered close to the Tecolote River.
Before roping and bringing the calves for care, Swayze put on his cowboy attire, including his chaps, and mounted a horse.
Swayze was wet through to the bone as it soon began to rain. The couple hurriedly loaded the horses, grabbed their coats, and jumped into their cars, wet and chilly.
They were having fun, but Niemi was secretly giggling since her husband wasn’t supposed to be alive, but there he was working on the ranch and living his life to the fullest.
Despite his illness and the discomfort, she claimed that Swayze was adamant about continuing to work on “The Beast,” a brand-new television detective series shot in Chicago. The project was a fantastic experience that motivated a lot of individuals.
Niemi also claimed that the series changed Swayze and made him seem like a different person. She was overcome by the immense jolt of energy he gave off, acting like the assertive, go-getter he used to be. She was relieved to see him again.
Swayze also came back one day upset that a stuntman had been asked to undertake a stunt intended for him because he was adamant that the show would not make his role any less hard. He turned to Niemi in September and expressed optimism in his eyes by saying:
“I’ve been in such great shape… I almost feel like myself.
Then Swayze had to go through his hair loss. After getting a pair of horse clippers and a size-15 blade from the barn, Niemi clipped her husband’s hair. After that, every time she glanced at him, she felt he looked fantastic and gorgeous.
Swayze was taking the chemotherapy medication Abraxane for breast cancer. His blood and scans improved right away as he started taking the medication. But he was staying in bed longer, feeling worse, and experiencing greater abdominal discomfort.
Drs. issued a warning about spreading diseases. Swayze could not be cured by chemotherapy. His best chance of surviving was long enough for improved medical care to become available. However, nothing materialized.
By September 2009, Swayze had relapsed into serious illness and was unable to handle chemotherapy. Doctors informed Niemi that Monday afternoon was when they reached that decision.
Niemi understood she had to let go or her heart would have been torn apart. The only way she could cope with the feeling that she had failed was to constantly tell herself that it was all about her and Swayze’s love, not about her.
Niemi disclosed Swayze gave his final speech on a Friday night. Through the bedroom door, her brother Eric and his wife Mary had arrived to visit him. Swayze, who was inebriated, was happy to see them and greeted them. Niemi wrote:
“‘I love you,’ were Patrick’s final words to me, and they were also mine. After I got him home, everything happened quickly.”
Swayze had previously been in a semi-coma, according to Niemi, but late Friday night he fell completely unconscious. Still, they sat with him and spoke to him.
She treasured their private moments together, when she held his hand, listened to music, and dozed off with her arm about him and her head on his shoulder.
On September 14, 2009, in the early hours, Niemi watched Swayze’s face and listened to the few breaths he was taking. It was time when she recognized it had a delicate, youthful quality.
She was afraid of suddenly being afraid, so she did not want to leave the room. He stopped breathing as she reclined next to him, clasped his hand, and once more felt his pulse. Niemi wrote:
“It was 10 a.m. He’d used every last bit of that body and needed to leave it behind.”
Together, Niemi and Swayze endured a lot of trials. They continued to love and adore each other to the very end, despite everything they went through. Since then, Niemi has wed again, this time to jeweler Albert DePrisco, whom she wed on May 25, 2014.
