America’s Got Talent contestant Evie Abplanalp courageously decided to continue onto the finale of the show while mourning the loss of her father.
Her father, Armos Abplanalp, had been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and undergoing treatment. At the time of his diagnosis, he was given a 5% chance of survival, but he never let his diagnosis stop him from his work as a bishop at his Latter Day Saint Church or as a prison counselor, and he clearly never let it stop his family either.
In fact, her father’s diagnosis one year before was what inspired her to enter the competition, where she wowed the audience with her family’s moving story and beautiful singing.
She quickly gained both the audience’s and judge’s favor and continued to soar through the competition, including doing a stunning performance of Macy Gray’s “I Try,” which was a further tribute to her father as he continued to fight his own battles with his disease. She also sang Birdy’s “Wings,” surrounded by a stunning stage decoration of candles, and both were showstopper moments for AGT fans!
After her semi-final performance, Evie and her family were informed that her father’s organs had begun to fail and that he was going to be placed onto life support. The situation had gotten severe enough that doctors were not sure they could guarantee he would make it through the rest of the night. While Evie and her mother needed to stay put to wait for the results to come in on Wednesday, the rest of the family quickly rushed and prayed that he would make it until Evie and her mother could come back to the hospital.
Evie did make it to the final episode, and she quickly rushed back via airplane to be with her family. On Thursday, her mother made an incredibly tough decision and decided to take her husband off life support.
“When our faithful children arrived we explained the situation and asked for their counsel in making this decision. They all agreed with tear filled eyes. We gave them each time alone with dad before turning off life-sustaining machines,” mother Hillary explained to the public in a post.
“We watched him take his last breaths as he continued to breathe for about 15 minutes on his own,” she continued to write. “The children burst into tears but are now at home laughing at old home movies of Daddy and remembering our great love for the most wonderful man any of us have ever known. We find constant peace and joy in the knowledge that Jesus Christ paid the price of death so that it has no lasting victory. We will be with Amos again and we feel he can now be with us without the restrictions of his mortal body. Our faith in the Savior has grown today and our family has been strengthened forever.”
The amazing and brave contestant returned for the finale of the contest to perform as a contestant, and while as of this writing, the results of the show have yet to be determined, her emotional performance proves how truly brave she has been the entire competition. Battling so many things at once has been difficult for her family, but she’s proven to everyone that love and devotion have helped her be as strong as she is today, and no matter the results of the competition, she will come out stronger and better than ever before.
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