Pastelle LeBlanc of Vishtèn has died of breast cancer at 42
Pastelle LeBlanc, who, along with her twin sister, Emmanuelle, and partner, Pascal Miousse, co-founded the ECMA-winning Acadian band Vishtèn, has died.
Emmannelle posted the news on her Facebook page on Saturday evening.
“We will miss her so much, our beautiful Pastelle. Our soulmate. A woman with an abundance of love, creativity, and wisdom,” she wrote.
“Despite the great challenges she experienced in the past two years, she still found a way to continue to inspire and heal the people around her.”
Around two years ago, at age 40, Pastelle was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer and told that her disease was beyond the point where conventional treatments could help.
She committed to a complimentary medicine regime that included fresh vegetable juice, Essiac and chaga teas, cannabis, high-dose vitamin C, stress reduction and spiritual work.
Friends set up a GoFundMe and raised more than $50,000 to pay for her treatments.
Last summer, scans showed the cancer retreating.
“I don’t know what you’re doing … but keep doing it,” she reported her oncologist saying at the time.
But a new round of scans in January delivered grim news, according to a post on Pastelle’s Facebook page. She said she would be removing herself from Facebook to focus on her healing.
“We count ourselves lucky to have been by her side and to have shared thousands and thousands of beautiful moments with her,” Emmanuelle wrote after her passing.
“We created a wonderful career together and have been blessed to travel the world and make people smile and heal with our music. … Even though we miss her very much already, we know that she will always be there by our sides, and she will give us the strength and inspiration to get through the biggest trials of our lives. She will continue to inspire us with her music and all the beauty she left in each of our hearts.”
People are invited to share memories of Pastelle at https://padlet.com/emmanuelleleblanc0/a86l826kyvahvips
