Dolly Parton secretly traveled to Germany for an experimental cancer treatment about a year before her passing, according to a new report.
Sources familiar with the situation told TMZ that Parton privately battled cancer during the final year of her life and traveled overseas while seeking treatment.
Parton Traveled to Germany for Treatment
The specific procedure she underwent in Germany has not been publicly identified.
According to the outlet, Parton flew by private jet to Frankfurt and spent about a week in Germany for the treatment before returning home. Sources said the country music icon believed the treatment had helped restore her strength and felt that it had been effective.
Parton died Aug. 25 at age 80 following a brief battle with cancer. Her representatives confirmed at the time that she died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville surrounded by loved ones.
The details of her illness were largely kept private. Parton’s sister, Stella Parton, recently explained that the singer did not want fans or much of her extended family to know she was sick.
Parton Kept Her Cancer Battle Private
“Dolly did not want anybody to tell that because Dolly could not bear negative things,” Stella told “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King. “She would not have wanted her fans worried about it… She didn’t want a lot of the family worried about it. Some of us knew, the ones that were closer, but not every relative.”
Stella said her sister wanted to protect the people who loved her from worrying about her health.
“She did not want people sad,” Stella continued. “She’d be really happy and delighted that people have shown her so much love because she knew that that would make us feel better as her family. Bottom line, end of the day, her family and Carl’s family and probably Judy’s family are the people that she would want to say, ‘See, everything I did, they cared. They really loved me.’”
Stella has also previously said that Dolly was willing to undergo experimental treatments if doctors believed there was no other hope, partly because she wanted her experience to potentially benefit other people.
“What the world saw is exactly who she was, so much so, she told me recently that if there was no hope for her, she would still allow her medical team to try experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future,” Stella wrote in a Facebook post.
“My sister was always thinking of others and if you want to honor her legacy, show more kindness, lift others up and give more of your time and resources as she continued to do to the very end,” she added.
Parton’s decision to keep her illness private meant news of her death came as a shock to many fans. Her family held a private service following her death. She was 80.
While Parton’s representatives confirmed she had been battling cancer, her family has not publicly disclosed the type of cancer she had or provided details about the treatment she received in Germany.
