A woman that was diagnosed with terminal cancer took it upon herself to sleep with as many men as possible on a sexual liberation journey.
Molly Kochan was told of the heartbreaking medical news in 2015, having originally been diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2011.
When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she found out it had spread to her lymph nodes, and led to a number of treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation treatment and a double mastectomy.
But sadly, by 2015, the cancer had spread to her bones, brain and liver.
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While many may choose to go travelling or undertake a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Kochan chose to go down a different route with the goal of sleeping with as many men as she wanted to.
The Los Angeles resident sadly passed away in March 2019 aged 45, but had recorded a six-part podcast, Dying for Sex and written a memoir titled Screw Cancer: Becoming Whole, before she died.
The former was thought up by both her and best friend Nikki Boyer back in 2018, as Kochan had been documenting her sexcapades and decided to make a podcast discussing them as well as her illness.
It's garnered millions of downloads since its release in February 2020.
Back when Kochan was told the gut-wrenching news, she made the decision to end her loveless 15-year marriage and go on a journey that would introduce her to world of dating in the 21st century, leaving no stone unturned to 'seek joy'.
While menopausal hormones can lower sexual libido, Kochan insisted at the time: “I literally wanted to hump everyone and everything that I saw. I was horny all of the time. I felt like a teenager again.”
She even took to posting snaps on dating apps before ending her marriage, though when the American podcaster called time, she went on to sleep with over 183 men.
Why 183? Well, Kochan and Boyer lost count after that.
She claimed that she slept with someone that had a foot fetish, a man that had a resemblance to Ryan Reynolds, and even someone with clown make-up.
The story is so extraordinary that a TV miniseries on her story has been released, with Oscar-nominee Michelle Williams playing Kochan in Dying For Sex.
“Sex makes me feel alive, and it’s a great distraction from being sick,” Kochan said before her death.
“I don’t think I would do any of this stuff without the cancer. Even though I’d maybe want to, I’d be a little more cautious about everything.”
The podcast does explore her liberation journey, but it also dives into things surrounding her trauma and childhood, alleging that one of her mum's boyfriend's abused her when she was just seven.
Kochan would often get health scares and when these escalated, so did her 'sexual adventures', as she said it was a good way to 'trump the distraction'.
Speaking about her late friend's memoir, Boyer said: “It wasn’t so much about the kinks and fetishes. The first escapade she had with this one guy, and it reignited something.
“He ends up killing himself and the stuff she processes around this guy is revisited trauma. It was never in the podcast and I don’t think she fully wrapped her head around it.”
Kochan also decided to reconnect with her parents while terminally ill, and admitted that she was 'in love' with herself, writing before her death: “I wish I could cap off the whirlwind hospital story with an amazing tale about a guy who swept me off my feet and made me blush, but my visitor never showed up.
“I realise I did get to fall in love. I am in love. With me.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Joshua Nair