Dinner with Gordon Ramsay is latest stop on woman’s terminal cancer journey

On the surface, Madison Baloy’s story is a deeply sad one. In February of 2023, this 26 year-old Tampa, Florida woman’s life was turned upside down when doctors diagnosed her with stage 4 colon cancer. They’ve given her five years to live, and Baloy is living like never before. Over the last year, she’s been fighting the cancer with chemotherapy, but along the way she’s made an amazing bucket list, and she just checked off one very big item: Meet Gordon Ramsay.

On Feb. 18, the “Hell’s Kitchen” chef posted a video on his TikTok account detailing the way he fulfilled Baloy’s wish and then some. In it, he offers to fly her and her friends to Miami with the full VIP treatment.

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“Friday night, you’ll be our special guest at the opening of our new restaurant, Lucky Cat in South Beach,” Ramsay says in his clip. The same day, Baloy posted her own highlights from the trip, and you can see she’s absolutely glowing.

“The biggest honor and the coolest night of my whole entire life,” gushes Baloy.

The moment likely wouldn’t have been possible if Baloy hadn’t chosen to turn her own TikTok account into a chronicle of her cancer journey. Since her diagnosis, she has posted updates that allow followers to tag along on chemotherapy appointments. But they also show her getting a tattoo, going to Disney World and otherwise being a very normal twentysomething. It’s the mix of both that has earned her over 380,000 followers and fans like Ramsay.

“I was really scared that people were only going to see me for cancer and forget who I was,” Baloy told “Today.” “I am still very much a person.”

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She continues to post and to work on her bucket list, which includes some ambitious accomplishments. This month alone, she has managed to not only meet Gordon Ramsay but climb Camelback Mountain.

That crosses two big ones off the list, and we can’t wait to see her do the rest!