Farrah “Looked at Us… And She Was Gone”

Ryan O'Neal said Farrah smiled at her loved ones before she died

Farrah Fawcett gazed up and smiled at loved ones surrounding her hospital bed in the final heart-wrenching moments of her life as her 2-1/2 year battle with cancer came to a tragic end, her longtime partner Ryan O'Neal said.

"She just looked at us with a slight smile, it was awful" O'Neal said, "and then all the machines flat-lined after about 16 hours. And she was gone."

In an interview that aired Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, Farrah's longtime love said when doctors told him the "Charlie's Angeles" star was nearing her final days, he put a bed into her room at  St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., so he could curl up by her side. 

"[Doctors] thought that she would live just another couple of hours, and she lived a couple of days," O'Neal said. "So I had a bed put in the room for me. And I just lay by her side. She wouldn't move on. She wouldn't pass." 

Fawcett, 62, waged a hard-fought battle against anal cancer, which spread throughout her body and, in her final months, forced her to shave off her signature blonde locks.

The couple's 24-year-old son Redmond was allowed time away from prison -- where he is currently serving time for a felony sentence -- to attend his mother's funeral as a pall bearer but was absent during her June 25 death.

Redmond expressed regret during his final conversation with his mother, which he had with his mother from jail as she lay frail in a hospital bed, O'Neal said.

"I held the phone to her ear. I think [the conversation] it was about regret. And the horror of not being able to see her again, and the promise of a good life -- one she would be proud of. He has a wonderful plan in mind to restore order in his life. And he will, with my help."

O'Neal said he made his own promises to Farrah, whom he said he wanted to marry on her deathbed.

"[In her final moments], I said I'd see her soon, and I see her every day. I write to her in my journal," O'Neal said. "Redmond says it's harder to grieve, but I told him to be patient. And when he got out, we'd grieve together." 

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