LL Cool J wanted to give his wife his fibula bone when she was diagnosed with cancer.
The 51-year-old rapper – who’s real name is James Todd Smith – has opened up about his wife, Simon Smith’s, battle with cancer, and recalled when she underwent a 15-hour surgery, which led to her having her right tibia removed and replaced with her left fibula, a still rod, screws, nails and micro veins from her other leg.
And the pair – who have been married since 1995 – revealed that Simone’s diagnosis happened after she fell over at the gym, and her husband wanted to make sure he could help in any way to make her feel "stronger".
Simone told Entertainment Tonight: "I was working out with my trainer, walking, talking, not paying no mind, walked into the waste basket and it hit that little knot. That sent me to the doctor, and that’s when I found out I had a chondrosarcoma stage three tumor in my right tibia bone.
"I remember sitting in the doctor’s office, and he [Cool J] wanted to give his fibula bone… because he felt that his fibula bone would be bigger and stronger."
The ‘Doin It’ hitmaker also made sure that any visitors coming to see his wife post-surgery were composed and full of "positive energy".
Simone said: "Todd would tell them… ‘You can’t go in there crying."
LL added: "Because you need positive energy. I learned that you got to be grateful, and you can’t take things for granted. I learned that left turns could come, right turns could come. You can’t always see around every corner, but you just have to have faith and you have to have gratitude, you got to roll with humility, you got to believe. I believe in God strongly, and you got to believe in yourself too."
And the couple have teamed up with the American Cancer Society for their new campaign named, ‘Beat Cancer Like a Boss’, which features Mary J. Blige, Jhene Aiko, Remy Ma and Salt-N-Pepa giving encouraging messages to those affected by cancer, and LL insisted that he was "inspired" to do the campaign because of his wife’s strength.
He continued: "The campaign is ‘Beat Cancer Like a Boss,’ and when it comes to that, she’s definitely been a boss. I think that so many people, if you can inspire others to learn more, dream more, do more, that’s being a boss and that’s why we did this campaign for the American Cancer Society and for Simone Smith, her jewelry, which a portion of all the proceeds go to the ACS."
LL Cool J wanted to give wife fibula bone following cancer diagnosis
