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Former \u201cMasterChef Junior\u201d contestant Ben Watkins lost his battle with a rare form of cancer Monday, according to his family. He was 14.<\/p>\n
Watkins, who starred in the reality show\u2019s sixth season in 2018, was undergoing treatment for angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma \u2014 a soft tissue tumor \u2014 at Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital of Chicago, according to TMZ.<\/p>\n
The young star was one out of only six people in the world who suffered from the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite all the pain and sickness Ben went through, he never complained, not once,\u201d his uncle and legal guardian, Anthony Edwards, told the Chicago Tribune.<\/p>\n
Edwards said he had been by Watkins\u2019 hospital bedside for 18 months, as his nephew was undergoing chemotherapy for tumors in his lung, spine and shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were praying for a different outcome,\u201d he told the outlet. \u201cBut Ben\u2019s lungs could no longer give him the air he needed to breathe. It\u2019s been devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young culinary whiz\u2019s life had already taken a tragic turn in 2017 when his dad killed his mother, and then himself, in a murder-suicide.<\/p>\n
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\nDespite the heartbreak, Watkins was always a happy child, his uncle said.<\/p>\n
He had loved working at his father\u2019s restaurant, Big Ben\u2019s Bodacious Barbecue & Deli in Gary, Ind. \u2014 which was named after him \u2014 and had dreams of opening up his own restaurant and bakery.<\/p>\n
\u201cBen was just so selfless,\u201d his uncle told the Tribune. \u201cIt was unreal, the character he has\u2026 he had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who hosts the \u201cMasterChef\u201d series, expressed his condolences to Ben\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lost a Master of the @MasterChefJrFOX kitchen today. Ben you were an incredibly talented home cook and even stronger young man.
\nYour young life had so many tough turns but you always persevered.<\/p>\n
Sending all the love to Ben Watkins\u2019 family with this terrible loss,\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramsay tweeted Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former \u201cMasterChef Junior\u201d contestant Ben Watkins lost his battle with a rare form of cancer Monday, according to his family. He was 14. Watkins, who starred in the reality show\u2019s sixth season in 2018, was undergoing treatment for angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma \u2014 a soft tissue tumor \u2014 at Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital of Chicago, according to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":63216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11185,59037],"tags":[64742],"yoast_head":"\n