Frankie Abernathy (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Frankie Abernathy (December 211981 – June 9, 2007) was a castmate on MTV's The Real World: San Diego. Hailing from Kansas City, Abernathy was the elder daughter of Abbie Hunter and Joe Abernathy. She had a younger sister named Mamie, and a stepfather, Perry Hunter. She attended Blue Springs High School in Blue Springs, Missouri.

MTV's promotional materials described Abernathy as someone who "likes to shock people with her appearance, date bad boys, party all night and dreams of being an artist." She was known for her taste in punk rock music.

Abernathy suffered from cystic fibrosis, with which she was diagnosed at the age of three, and during her time on The Real World, she showed many symptoms of the genetic disorder, such as difficulty breathing and immune-system impairment. Her disease was a significant part of her storyline on the show. Regarding living with cystic fibrosis (less than half of whose sufferers live to the age of 37), one of Abernathy's sayings was, "Tomorrow is a privilege, so live today like tomorrow isn't happening."

Abernathy ended up leaving the show before the end of the season, due to conflict with her roommates and the strain of separation from her boyfriend at the time, tattoo artist and musician Dave Duly.

After leaving the show, Abernathy spent her time working at numerous retail outlets in Kansas City, working tattoo conventions with the Art Intensity Network, getting more tattoos, and just being with her family and friends. She also graced the cover of the May 2005 issue of Prick, a tattoo magazine.

Abernathy moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin with her family in the fall of 2006. She began designing purses forged from old vinyl records, though she did not work full time. According to her mother, winter is a difficult time for people with the chronic lung disease, but the 2006 winter had been particularly problematic for Abernathy. Her illness had been worse than in prior winters, and the family considered trying to get Abernathy qualified to appear on a lung transplant list.

Abernathy succumbed to the disease suddenly at her mother's Shorewood, Wisconsin home on June 9, 2007, at the age of 25. An official cause of death has not yet been determined. She is the second alumnus of the The Real World to die, after Pedro Zamora. As with Zamora's struggle with AIDS, Abernathy is credited, according to mtv.com, with helping to raise national awareness of cystic fibrosis, and putting a face on the disease. Abernathy's mother, Abbie Hunter, said about her time on the show:

A scholarship has been set up in her name at her alma mater, Blue Springs High School.

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