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Passage: Julie Yip-Williams

Passage: Julie Yip-Williams
Passage: Julie Yip-Williams 01:38

We want to take a moment now to note the death this past Monday of Julie Yip-Wlliams.

As you may remember, Tracy Smith told Julie's story here on "Sunday Morning" just two weeks ago … a story that was all about living on borrowed time.

Julie was born totally blind in Vietnam, and narrowly escaped a plot hatched by her own grandmother to have her killed on grounds that she had no future.

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Julie Yip-Williams. CBS News

But at age three, Julie and her family made it to the United States, where a surgeon was able to give her only partial sight, leaving her still legally blind.

Undaunted, Julie Yip-Williams went on to graduate from Harvard Law School, and pursue a corporate career -- only to be diagnosed with colon cancer five years ago.

Still undaunted, Julie underwent every surgery and treatment and clinical trial she could find, to no avail. 

Through it all, she shared her experience in a candid blog, My Cancer Fighting Journey, while also preparing her daughters -- Isabelle, age six, and Mia, eight -- for the day when her borrowed time would run out.

Julie Yip-Williams was just 42 years old.

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Julie plays with her daughters. CBS News
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