Tony Steward, NFL Linebacker, Honors Fiancee Brittany Burns After Her Death From Ovarian Cancer
NFL linebacker Tony Steward paid tribute to his deceased fiancee Brittany Burns after recently losing her battle with ovarian cancer.
Steward used Instagram to honor the 26-year-old woman who he was looking forward to becoming his wife.
The Buffalo Bills linebacker started off his emotionally-stirring message by referring to Brittany as if she was his wife – “Brittany Ann Steward” instead of using her maiden name “Burns.”
“You have the biggest heart I have ever seen in my entire life and I promise you that it will live on in me, our family and every single soul you have touched. You are the strongest and most loving soul to step foot in this world. You have been my rock, my motivation, my heart, my soulmate, my everything since the day I laid eyes on you. Every single day of your life you have been a fighter and I know this because of the unbelievable family you brought me into.”
Steward further expressed that he will continue to “honor everything” that Brittany stood for in life and continue to be the person that she always brought out in him. He concluded the message by telling Brittany that he deeply loved her “with every ounce of everything in” him. Tony even used the #FightingLikeAGirl hashtag, an added feature that he used for numerous pictures of his fiancee during her two-month battle against ovarian cancer.
Brittany Burns was first diagnosed with a rare type of ovarian cancer last December. Several days after receiving her diagnosis, Tony Steward decided to take their relationship to the next level by proposing to her.
Prayers for @buffalobills LB Tony Steward over the loss of his beloved fiancé???? #fightlikeagirl #fightlikebritt pic.twitter.com/gBVUcuS2la
— nh (@natyb0h) February 3, 2016
Prayers go out to Tony Steward. One of the best human beings to wear the paw. There is so much more to life than football #ClemsonFamily
— Bailey Tollison (@liltolli) February 2, 2016
A family that prays together, stays together. #ClemsonFamily
We’ve got your back, Tony Steward! pic.twitter.com/hMNIXSKKBa
— #HillWatch (@HillWatch) February 2, 2016
My heart is heavy for Tony Steward this morning. Always hard to understand why bad things happen to such good people.
— Ben Miller (@BenJaminMiller1) February 2, 2016
In his touching Instagram post that announced the good news, Tony mentioned that the engagement was “long overdue but it can be argued that it was the perfect moment for two people to be united as one.”
According to the post, Tony Steward and Brittany Burns had already spent over three years enjoying “amazing moments and creating beautiful memories” together as a couple.
Perhaps an even more emotional Instagram post was the post created by Brittany herself back in December. To caption a beautiful photo collage, Brittany focused on several of the highlights and memorable moments that she experienced throughout 2015 – including the high of her relationship with Tony Steward as well as the low point of her rare cancer diagnosis.
“2015 held a lot of great moments. Tony was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, we got our first pet LV and moved up north to Buffalo. Tony proposed to me after nearly 4 years of dating. But while 2015 was good, I’ve got to beat it! I’ve got to beat the only news that brought 2015 down, cancer. #Fightlikeagirl.”
The Buffalo Bills also issued an official statement in reference to Brittany’s passing, expressing how important she was to the organization as well during the relatively short period of time that they spent with her.
#Bills offer condolences following the death of Brittany Burns, who was engaged to linebacker Tony Steward. pic.twitter.com/EQHAZxQWvE
— Andy Young (@AndyTWCNews) February 2, 2016
Tony Steward, 23, a former Clemson University student-athlete, joined the Buffalo Bills roster after being signed by the team in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
[Image via Tony Steward Instagram]
