>From News.com.au:-
AT the tender age of 21, Home And Away star Jodi Gordon was last week
forced to bury her boyfriend of two years after he died from a rare
and aggressive form of leukemia.
The Logie-winning actor was by Chris Burkhardt's side when he slipped
into a coma last Saturday. Burkhardt died next day. He was 23.
Gordon was deeply in love with Burkhardt, her "loved soulmate".
A family friend told The Sunday Telegraph she was shattered by the
suddenness of his death.
"As you can imagine, Jodi is attempting to come to terms with the
tragic circumstances of last weekend," the friend said. "It's all
happened so quickly."
At Burkhardt's funeral at Lane Cove on Thursday, Gordon, who plays
feisty Martha Mackenzie in the popular soap, was supported by many of
Summer Bay castmates. They included Holly Brisley, Tim Campbell and
Ray Meagher.
Gordon found it hard to address the funeral gathering. She broke down
several times as she recalled her deep love for Burkhardt.
She said he had taught her how to live life and how to laugh.
In recent months, Home And Away producers altered scripts to allow
Gordon more time with Burkhardt and his family.
"Jodi's been in and out of work ... spending time with Chris and his
family," the friend said.
"(She) is thankful to the show's producers, who've made every effort
to accommodate what she's been going through."
Channel Seven issued a statement on behalf of Gordon, thought to be
spending time with her family.
It reads: "Brave and beautiful to the end, Chris battled leukemia
since being diagnosed in May 2006.
"Jodi, along with Chris's family, thank everyone for their incredible
love and support over past months."
Gordon, one of the rising stars of the Home And Away set, was named
best new female talent at the Logie Awards last May.
However, her smiles and elation on the night hid a tragic secret. The
day before the gala event, the couple were told Burkhardt was
suffering from acute myeloid leukemia.
This is an aggressive and rare cancer of white-blood cells usually
only found in people aged 40 or more.
Burkhardt started immediate treatment and, watching television from
his hospital bed, watched Gordon collect the prized statuette.
The glamorous couple met when Gordon was 16. They dated for six weeks
before Gordon's modelling career took her to Milan.
Three years later, in 2005, the pair were reunited through mutual
friends in Sydney on Valentine's Day.
"Our love has only got stronger through all of this," Gordon told New
Idea magazine late last year.
"We've both learnt what's really important in our lives."
In the same interview, Burkhardt told of the perfect life the couple
enjoyed prior to his diagnosis.
"We used to say to each other, 'How perfect are our lives?' We both
had great jobs and were in a great relationship. It was all peaches
and cream," he said.
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Australian Red Cross Blood Service, call 131 495 or visit
www.abmdr.org.au/enroll.htm.
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