Lisa Niemi Opens Up On Patrick Swayze’s Last Days On ‘Oprah’

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Patrick Swayze and wife Lisa Niemi in Las Vegas
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Patrick Swayze with his wife Lisa Niemi and mother Patsy Swayze in 1979
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Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa Niemi on their wedding day on June 12, 1975

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FIRST PUBLISHED: October 30, 2009 4:55 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: October 30, 2009 5:10 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Lisa Niemi spoke out on Friday in her first television interview since the death of her husband, Patrick Swayze, in an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

“Every moment of every breath of every day in the last 22 months before he died, every single one of those was special,” Lisa, who was married to the actor for 38 years before his passing from pancreatic cancer in September, told Oprah.

“Were his final days peaceful?” Oprah asked.

“Luckily, he was very comfortable,” Lisa answered. “Not in pain.”

In his final hours, Lisa stayed by Patrick’s bedside, keeping control of his pain medication in her hand.

“There’s a strange, difficult transition from trying to treat and get better to try to make comfortable — very, very hard to do,” Lisa explained.

Of the brave star’s last day, Lisa said she could feel it coming.

“His heart is so strong, metaphorically, and literally — but it was only so long that his heart was going to keep going,” she told Oprah. “I was afraid to leave his side, and luckily I was so happy I was there.”

While Patrick’s long battle was full of tough moments, Lisa also recalled their 2008 wedding vow renewal, which she described as a “fairy tale.”

“He rode in on a stallion?” Oprah asked.

“A white horse. After 34 years, finally he rides in on a white horse and I was happy,” she said. “It was incredibly magical.”

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