In a post filled with heartbreak and gratitude, the actor opened up about the profound loss his family is now facing after his wife lost her long battle with cancer.
Earlier today, March 24, Hallmark actor Brennan Elliott took to Instagram to announce the heartbreaking death of his wife, Camilla Row. In an emotional post, the actor revealed that she passed away at 5:28 a.m. after an eight-year battle with cancer.
“Our babies and I lost our rock, a person who not only was the love of my life, my soulmate, my best friend and lover but the toughest strongest fearless person I have ever met in my life and the greatest mother to her babies,” Elliott wrote.
The actor also thanked fans and supporters from around the world who prayed for Row throughout her cancer journey. “[…] I know my wife @camilla_row would have wanted me to thank every person from all over the world who prayed for her over the last 8 years […],” he shared.
Elliott and Row were married in 2011 and shared two children together. She had worked as a clinical psychologist in Orange County, California, and lived a vibrant, active life before her diagnosis.
However, in 2018, she began experiencing severe stomach pain and unrelenting heartburn — initially dismissed by doctors as digestive issues. It took visits to three specialists before she underwent an endoscopy, which revealed a whitish lesion in her stomach.
A screenshot of Camilla Row from a post dated April 22, 2022. | Source: Instagram/brennanelliott2
Follow-up testing confirmed it was an aggressive and rare form of stomach cancer — poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma. The diagnosis came as a shock as Row had no known risk factors. She recalled:
“I didn’t even know you could get cancer in the stomach! I felt intense panic and fear. And I thought it was a death sentence.”
She was young, healthy, and active — a former high school athlete who swam and ran track. She maintained a fit lifestyle, and had met Elliott years earlier at the gym.
Her Korean heritage, however, put her at greater risk than she realized. Gastric cancer is far more prevalent among people of Asian descent, and in South Korea, routine screening for stomach cancer begins at age 35. Row, born and raised in the U.S., hadn’t been screened.
Following the diagnosis, she had her stomach removed and completed eight rounds of chemotherapy. For a time, her cancer appeared to be in remission.
But in late 2021, a blood test detected circulating tumor DNA, and scans revealed the cancer had spread to her ovaries. By early 2022, she was re-diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic gastric cancer.
Elliott publicly shared her new diagnosis in an April 2022 Instagram post, writing, “Even after countless surgeries and chemotherapy rounds, she forges ahead, taking on one of the most aggressive types of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.”
Though known for his privacy, the actor explained that sharing his wife’s story could help others. “If there is any hope that her story can help even one person, then her cancer experience was not done in vain,” he wrote.
That same year, Elliott gave an update while attending Christmas Con in Pasadena, California. “She’s hanging in there,” he told PEOPLE, noting that Row had completed her 16th round of chemotherapy over the last few years. “She’s a warrior.”
“We just want to keep that cancer critter away from her. It’s a lot of long nights, not a lot of sleeping with the kids and stuff,” he added.
The Hallmark star further revealed that he would not “shy away from or lie about” his wife’s condition by acting as if everything was fine as it was “an absolute nightmare.”
However, for the actor — who has shared the screen with sames such as Lacey Chabert — attending events like Christmas Con gave him the energy to persevere in light of his wife’s health struggles.
“But when I come here, it’s a bit of a reprieve, because I get a chance to be surrounded by the fans… everybody’s just really good people. It’s really, really lovely. Then, when I go home, it kind of enriches me a little bit to keep going,” Elliott said.
Sadly, despite aggressive treatment, including the removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes, Row’s cancer proved relentless. At that point, she sought help from City of Hope and Dr. Yanghee Woo, a gastric cancer specialist.
Dr. Woo proposed an intensive approach that included HIPEC — hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion — a heated chemotherapy technique used to treat cancer within the abdominal cavity.
Thus, Row underwent four HIPEC procedures and the first three yielded disappointing results. But the fourth, performed in early 2023, brought unexpected hope. On March 6, doctors found no trace of cancer anywhere in her body. Dr. Woo said:
“Being able to give hope to a patient with so much to live for — I could not stop smiling during the call.”
Still, Row and her doctors knew the fight wasn’t over. With stage 4 gastric cancer, long-term survival remains rare, and the risk of recurrence is high. She was realistic but hopeful. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” she said at the time. “Everything came together for me. But I worked really hard. I didn’t take no for an answer.”
Throughout her battle, Row used her story to raise awareness and inspire others fighting the same disease. Her presence within the gastric cancer community was powerful and deeply felt — something Elliott highlighted in his final tribute.
“What you did for the #gastriccancer community was immeasurable, but what you did for me as a man will last forever,” he wrote. Elliott ended the tribute with a message of eternal love, writing that he looks forward to being reunited with her one day.
“I know u r dancing and are on vacation in heaven and free from the grips of cancer,” he shared. “When the Lord calls me and it’s my time, I will c u in heaven and we will start dancing again… I will always be your hot mess! Missing you on this plane forever but will c u soon!”
