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Millvina Dean (Born: 2 February 1912 – Died: 31 May 2009) has died, she was the last living survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and was only nine weeks old when it sank.
In April 2008, Millvina had accepted an invitation to speak in Southampton at an event commemorating the 96th anniversary of the ship's sinking, but ill health resulting from a respiratory infection forced her to cancel.
In December 2008, at the age of 96, Millvina Dean was forced to sell several of her family's possessions to pay for her private medical care following a broken hip. These possessions included a letter sent to her mother from the Titanic Relief Fund, and a suitcase given to her and her mother in New York following the ship's sinking. Their sale realized approximately £32,000. In February 2009, she announced that she would be selling several more items to pay for her increasing medical costs which she said averaged approximately £3,000 a month.
In response, the Millvina Fund was set up in May 2009 by the director and stars of the film "Titanic", James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who donated over £20,000 to support Dean with her bills. This fund was set up through a challenge by photographer Don Mullan, and matches one he set up through selling prints.
Dean died on 31 May 2009 at the age of 97, 98 years to the day after the Titanic was launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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Here's to the crazy ones...
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