If you’re one of Antonio Shell’s 124k Instagram followers, you’ve probably seen his mother – dancing and smiling as she tries to beat cancer.
Her name is Amanda Lynnervan and she’s from Northeast, D.C. She’s a mother of four adult children and has spent the last two years fighting stage four breast cancer – cancer that, her family says, has spread throughout her body.
A couple of weeks ago a video of the 53-year-old went viral.
In it, she shakily stands up and starts to dance as a local man sings some of her favorite songs.
But since that video, her health has deteriorated.
On Friday, Shell says his mother collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
She’s been in the Intensive Care Unit ever since.
Shell says doctors are telling him to prepare for the worst and “go ahead and plan her funeral.”
“It’s devastating,” Shell told WUSA9. “To see someone who's so beautiful and been so kind to everyone and who's been so loving have to leave - sometimes I ask myself why does it have to be my Mom?"
As hard as it is, Shell still believes Lynnervan can pull through, and one reason is all of her dancing.
Shell has countless videos of his mom, bald and often in a hospital bed, bobbing her head and lifting her hands to all types of music.
"My mom loves music,” Shell explained. “When I say loves music I mean loves music. Give her a beat, you can cut on some music, she’s going to get up. Any kind of music. She dance to everything."
Even in her weakest moments, she dances – and to Shell it’s proof: "That woman. She's fighting."
Shell started a “GoFundMe” to try and raise money for his mother’s funeral costs. He says he hopes raise enough to bury her with “dignity.”
