REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) — “God gives his toughest battles to his strongest warriors. That was the line she lived by, and she was the strongest person that I knew. The funniest person that I ever knew,” said Chris Wilson.
That phrase offered a small glimpse of what it was like to know his wife, Andrea Andrade.
“I had just never felt like that deep of an unconditional love that could happen so fast,” Wilson said.
The 35-year-old Reedley beauty queen lost her battle to colon cancer on January 16.
Sitting in front of numerous pictures of Andrea, Wilson reflected on the short but rich time they had together.
The two met under unusual circumstances.
Andrea was in remission from an initial cancer diagnosis in 2017, from which doctors told her she’d only have six months to two years to live.
But that didn’t stop the couple from pursuing the life they both wanted.
“I mean, we were just a team. We told her I would never leave her side, and I think she knew that entirely,” Wilson said.
But Andrea was a light that refused to be put out.
She was the only girl among four boys. Her younger brother, Eric Andrade, told us that the inspiration he got from his older sister only grew as her battle carried on.
“She was the light of the family. She was not only that, but she was a blue to this family. So Andy, we just, you know, knew how to unite us all,” Eric said.
The trait that seems to define Andrea the most is resilience, and it’s a trait her family will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Even as she endured one of the hardest battles anyone can face, Andrea dedicated her life to helping others.
“There was never a moment that the defeat was accepted, in a way, and she fought every single day she was still on treatment, all the way until she passed,” Wilson said.
He told Action News that Andrea had a warrior’s spirit, beating colon cancer in 2018 while also achieving her goal of becoming a beauty queen, winning five pageants and competing for the Miss California crown.
After her second diagnosis, the 35-year-old’s focus shifted to uplifting those around her.
Chris and Andrea started several businesses, most notably, the “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” program.
“She originally found this young kid named Liam who had cancer, and he would go to every single chemo appointment dressed up as a different superhero, and she met him by delivering Easter baskets to kids with cancer,” Wilson said.
That interaction became a tradition meant to inspire children on the very same journey as Andrea and to make them feel like superheroes, stronger than their diagnosis.
The kids would then be taken to a Fresno Grizzlies game.
“They’d get to go down on the field after the game and light off the fireworks with their magic powers, giving them a day for them to smile, light up and enjoy a sports game was something that she was really proud of doing,” Wilson said.
Andrea’s generosity was particularly admired by her older brother, Junior Andrade.
“She really enjoyed doing things for the community and not receiving anything back,” Junior said.
Chris is still astonished by his wife’s strength, saying, “It was just such an inspiration to me to see that she could have just not helped anybody out and just tried to fight her own battle herself, just try to feel better each day that she felt sick, but instead, she took the time to care for other people.”
Andrea Andrade’s funeral service will be on February 5.
Her husband, Chris Wilson, says it will be open to the community.
