Our hearts are heavy: Steph Millett passed away from metastatic breast cancer on Friday, July 17.
Steph was a 4-time contributor to Wildfire Journal, a cover star on the Queer in Cancerland issue, a guest on The Burn twice, and participated in writing workshops and live storytelling events. She was a huge part of the Wildfire community and will be greatly missed.
Steph was diagnosed originally in 2015 at the age of 25 with Stage IIIa ER/PR+ breast cancer. She gave birth to her daughter, Maddy, at the tail end of treatment. Right before the worldwide Covid-19 lockdown, Steph met Kayla, and the two of them created a life together. In November 2020,
Steph was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.
In Steph’s words: "The day I got the news that my cancer had returned as Stage IV, I gave my partner a choice. I told her she could leave, and I wouldn’t blame her for it. This wasn’t the kind of life you choose.
Six months later, we got married in the grassy yard of the house we closed on three weeks before the Stage IV news. It was a perfect sun-filled afternoon surrounded by our closest people.
My wife is one heck of a woman. In times when I thought I didn’t deserve to be cared for, she wiped my tears away and helped me out of my bandages. When the nurses would joke about my shitty veins and how bad of a stick I am, she would tell them off. She has stood up in the face of every doctor and fought for my quality of life this entire time. Every single day, she shows up, she fights for me, and she’s here for our daughter."
Our hearts go out to her friends, loved ones, and especially to her wife, Kayla, and her daughter, Maddy.
💓 Rest in power, Steph.
LISTEN to Steph on The Burn: “My Life, and Being Wrong” from Feb 22, 2023 and rereleased on June 5, 2026 | “Stay Visible” from Aug 14, 2024
READ Steph’s pieces: “Ten Years For What?” in 2024 “Work & Career” | “Stay Visible” in 2024 “Queer in Cancerland” | “My Body the Paper Doll” in 2023 “Body” | “My Life, and Being Wrong” in 2022 “MBC: Legacy Stories"
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