Ryan O'Neal remembers Farrah's final smile

Jul 21, 2009, 9:09 GMT

"In her dying moments, Farrah just looked at us with a slight smile and then all the machines flat lined. She was gone." © Lee Roth / RothStock / PR Photos

Farrah Fawcett smiled at her family just before she died.

The 'Charlie's Angel' actress - who lost her battle with anal cancer last month aged 62 - clung to life for much longer than her doctors thought she would, according to her long-term partner Ryan O'Neal.

Ryan said in an interview with US TV show 'Today': "Doctors thought that she would live just another couple of hours, and she lived a couple of days. So I had a bed put in the room for me. And I just lay by her side. She wouldn't - move on. She wouldn't pass.

"In her dying moments, Farrah just looked at us with a slight smile and then all the machines flat lined. She was gone."

Ryan also spoke of the last time his 24-year-old son Redmond spoke to his mother Farrah.

Redmond - who is currently in prison on felony drugs charges - was not allowed to visit Farrah on her deathbed, but was given permission to attend her funeral.

Speaking about the phone call, Ryan explained: "I think it was about regret. And the horror of not being able to see her again, and the promise of a good life - one she would be proud of. He has a wonderful plan in mind to restore order in his life. And he will, with my help."

Redmond is struggling to come to terms with the loss of his mother, but Ryan deals with his grief by writing to her.

He explained: "In her final moments, I said I'd see her soon, and I see her every day. I write to her in my journal. Redmond says it's harder to grieve, but I told him to be patient. And when he got out, we'd grieve together.

"I'm using what she taught me to survive, to go on. I have launched into this massive job of answering the mail that has come in for her over the last few weeks. Hundreds and hundreds of letters of pain and sorrow and hope. I'm answering every one of them. That's my life now."