Kyle Richards reads old texts in tribute to friend Lorene Shea after tragic death Thu 18

Publish date: 2024-03-15

Kyle Richards has paid a moving tribute to her late friend Lorene Shea on what would have been her 53rd birthday. Passing away at the age of 52 after a battle with mental illness, the reality star has remembered her dear friend after her tragic death.

Longtime fans of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills might know that reality star Kyle Richards grew up attached to her best friend, Lorene Shea. The two maintained a close friendship for almost five decades. Doing “everything together”, their bond only grew stronger throughout the year.

Today, she paid a special tribute on her birthday in a heartbreaking message on her Instagram.

A touching birthday tribute

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A post shared by Kyle Richards Umansky (@kylerichards18)

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On August 18, the RHOBH star commemorated her best friend Lorene on what would have been her 53rd birthday. As the two have known each other since they were children, Kyle Richards paid tribute to her pal after her death in May.

While the song Good Friends by Maren Morris played in the background, Kyle included a slideshow of different pictures from when they were little girls to being grown up five decades later.

In the emotional caption, she wrote: “Happy birthday Lorene. You should be here with us celebrating. Instead, I scroll through our texts and think about how much I miss you & wish you were here #mentalhealthawareness.”

Fans rally to support Kyle

Although there have been several occasions where Kyle has been the topic of conversation for her controversial actions on RHOBH, fans have come together to send messages of support to Real Housewife.

One fan wrote: “She is greatly missed by us all. She was so lucky to have you as a lifelong bestie.”

Another one added: “You go way back with your dear friend. Very sorry for your loss. You’ve always had such an amazing smile and you laugh from the heart.”

A third one penned: “Such a beautiful friendship, she is so missed. Love you both.”

Lorene Shea dies after battling mental illness

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A post shared by Kyle Richards Umansky (@kylerichards18)

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On the day of her death, on May 7, 2022, the reality star shared a touching post on her social media with her millions of fans, as she claimed the system had “failed her”.

The reality star revealed her best friend was a “happy person”, and questioned herself as to why something like that could have happened to her. She then revealed to her fans Lorene “started to suffer from debilitating depression”.

In the lengthy message, she wrote about the “unbearable pain” that she was going through after losing her friend after spending more than 40 years together.

A section of the message reads: “How did this happen? All who loved her rallied around her and did everything that could be done to get her help. But the system is broken. The system made it impossible to get her the help she needed.”

If you are affected by any issues raised in the article or would like someone to speak to, please call the Samaritans for free on 116 123. You can also email them at [email protected] or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch in the UK. In the US, please visit Samaritans USA for more information.

You can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text 741741 to get in touch with the Crisis Text Line. Americans can now call or text 988 to reach out and speak to a counsellor.

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