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A year after Johnny Ruffo's death, this is what Tahnee Sims wants to tell him.

When Tahnee Sims met Johnny Ruffo, she knew she had met 'her person'.

After meeting at a dance studio in 2015, she stood by his side when he was first diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017 and again when the cancer returned in 2020.

Then in 2023, the Home and Away actor died at the age of 35, six years after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

As she had been for the eight years they were together, Tahnee was by her partner's side as his family confirmed he "went peacefully with the support of some incredible nurses and doctors."

Watch Johnny Ruffo discuss when he was first diagnosed on The Project.


Video via Network 10.

It's been a year since the devastating news hit Ruffo's friends, family, and the Australian entertainment industry.

Tahnee Sims shared her thoughts around the anniversary on her Instagram with a carousel of photos of the couple sharing beautiful memories together.

"One year on without you... It feels like just yesterday & a lifetime ago all at once," Sims began.

"There are so many things I wish I could say to you, so many moments I have wanted to share with you, so many times I've reached for my phone to call you," she continued.

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Tahnee took the chance to tell her late boyfriend the one thing she wanted to share with him. "The main thing I would want you to know, is that I am okay," she wrote.

"Grief is incredibly heavy but it's the price we pay for love & I'm so grateful for all of the years we got to share together & the lifetime of love & adventure we packed in.

"Forever wouldn't have been long enough with you… Miss you J."

In one of the slides, she shared a quote that read: "I'm not sure I've done anything more meaningful with my life than to walk my person to the ends of this world, to the point where I could go no further."

In March, Tahnee wished Johnny a happy birthday on what would have been his 36th birthday.

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Two months after his death, Tahnee reflected on how she was feeling living life without 'her 'person'.

"It's hard to fathom your life & look forward without your person that has been beside you for so many years - even though we knew we were on borrowed time, we still always held out hope," she wrote.

In Johnny Ruffo's memoir No Finish Line, he wrote about how his diagnosis had made him want to 'fight' for more time with Tahnee.

"When I was faced with my diagnosis and ultimately given the choice to fight or not to fight, I instantly knew I wanted to fight for Tahnee, for my family and for the right to LIVE," he wrote.

"My battle with cancer is a story worth telling, but so is my life before. If the one thing cancer allows me to do is make someone else find their fight, well, that's good enough for me."

Feature image: Instagram/@tahneesims.

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