"Our family wants to thank everyone who has shown love and support for our Shannen throughout her life," Rosa Doherty tells PEOPLELiza Esquibias is an Editorial Intern at PEOPLE. She is a rising senior majoring in Journalism at Pepperdine, where she is the editor-in-chief of the school's magazine.remembered the late actress for the first time in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. Shannen died at the age of 53 on July 13 after a long journey with cancer.
On Sunday, July 14, Shannen's longtime publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed the actress had died one day earlier in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. “I think I was always a fighter,” she added. “I was raised that way to be very strong and that I could do anything that I put my mind to.”. She explained that while it was"one of the scariest things I've ever been through," she was determined to continue working.