Micky Ward

Credit: Julia Malakie/The Lowell Sun/AP

Alice Ward, Real-Life Mother in The Fighter, Dies

Originally posted 04/28/2011 07:55AM

Alice Ward, the no-nonsense, real-life mom of boxing champ Micky Ward and one of the riveting main characters in this year's Oscar-winning The Fighter, died Tuesday at Boston's Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

She was 79 and was taken off life support after having lapsed into a coma, reports the Lowell Sun in Massachusetts.

In January, Ward suffered a heart attack, a stroke and was pronounced dead for 45 minutes – only to regain consciousness and start breathing again on her own, her other son, Dicky Eklund, told the family’s local newspaper.