Stanković Reveals Vedrana Rudan's Final Message
The host of 'Nedjeljom u 2' bid farewell to the late writer and revealed what she told him a month before her death, while we also recall her battle with a rare bile duct cancer.
The host of 'Nedjeljom u 2' bid farewell to the late writer and revealed what she told him a month before her death, while we also recall her battle with a rare bile duct cancer.
Croatian writer, journalist, columnist, and activist Vedrana Rudan passed away at the age of 77 after a long and difficult battle with cancer, as reported by Story.hr on August 18, 2026. She shared her diagnosis with the public in mid-2024, and now the host of the show 'Nedjeljom u 2,' Aleksandar Stanković, has bid her farewell on social media, revealing their last conversation.
Stanković shared on Instagram what Rudan told him when they last spoke, a month before her death.
"We spoke a month ago, and her message was: 'We totally screwed them all with that last interview, and I just can't seem to die!' Vedrana," Stanković wrote.
Their last interview took place in March 2025 on 'Nedjeljom u 2,' where Rudan spoke openly about her illness. At the end of the show, she sent an emotional message to viewers.
"I want to say that there are a lot of people who love me, and I love them. And that I am immortal. Let my death be seen as going to a place with no signal," she said at the time.
Shortly before her death was officially confirmed, that very message appeared on her Facebook profile, saying she had gone to a place without signal.
In mid-2024, Rudan detailed her diagnosis on her Facebook profile, not holding back her criticism of the Croatian healthcare system.
"My cancer is a damn rare one, it's called bile duct cancer, I think. I haven't read the discharge letter, the type, or the Internet prognosis. Though I did come across somewhere that from the first symptoms to death, you have three months to cheat on your husband, disinherit your kids, or tell your lover to get lost. And it's not much time. Only 5% of lucky ones can be operated on. That's me. First, I went to Sveti Nedjelja to Radiochirurgia to have my cancer burned before surgery. They burned my cancer and my wallet because I didn't 'make the quota.' Namely, the state has an agreement with that institution whereby a certain number of Croats get into the 'quota.' The rest either die of cancer or have friends come to their rescue," she wrote at the time.
Vedrana Rudan was born on October 29, 1949, in Opatija. She studied Croatian and German at the Pedagogical Academy in Rijeka, and later worked as a teacher, tour guide, and ice cream seller. She was a journalist for several Croatian newspapers, an editor at Croatian Radio, and a television show host.
In 1991, she was fired from Croatian Radio, and in 1993, a first-instance court ruling reinstated her, but she soon resigned herself. In January 2009, she was also let go from Nova TV.
She wrote in a short, sharp style and was a member of the Croatian Writers' Society. Her works have been translated into English, Hungarian, Slovenian, Polish, French, Italian, Russian, and Macedonian. Plays based on her books have been performed in Rijeka, Zagreb, Belgrade, Warsaw, London, Santa Monica, and Budapest.
