A Love That Lasted

She was 34 and he was 12 when they fell in love. They married and divorced – yet he was there for her when she died

- Kim Abrahams

Theirs was a love story that held a macabre fascination for decades.

When it all began, she was a 34-year-old schoolteacher, married with four children. He was her 12-year-old pupil, infatuated with a woman more than two decades his senior – and the feelings were mutual.

What followed were two children, a conviction for child rape, two jail sentences, a wedding mired in controversy, then later a bitter divorce. Yet over the years Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau remained a unified force, a couple committed to each other despite all the controversy and condemnation.

Now the love story that began in the late 1990s has come to a tragic end.

Mary Kay (58) died recently in her home in Seattle in the US after battling stage four colon cancer for six months.

And despite being divorced from her, Vili (37) was there for her every step of the way, moving from his home in California to provide around-the-clock care for his ex-wife.

He’s crushed by her death, those closest to him say.

“He lost a piece of himself,” a friend told People magazine. “He understands how f**ked up everything was in how they got together. He’s not stupid. But he can’t turn off his feelings completely and it’s a big loss for him.”

The couple spoke right before she died and “they said everything they needed to say”.

“Everyone’s hearts are very heavy at the moment,” another source says. “I believe she and her loved ones were spending every minute of every day cherishing time together.

“I do know they both adored each other and did everything they could to keep the family intact.”