The young Black Hills mother whose pregnancy and cancer fight drew wide support from friends and strangers around the country has died.

Jacqui Graf, 22, died Sunday at Rapid City Regional Hospital Auxiliary Hospice House with her husband, Paul Graf, by her side.

"She was so amazing," Paul said Monday. "She just touched everybody."

Jacqui Graf was six months pregnant in late January when doctors discovered a large mass in her abdomen. The mass hadn't been present the month prior during a routine ultrasound. She was airlifted to Sioux Falls on Jan. 27 and eventually diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, an extremely fast growing form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Following the diagnosis, she and Paul were forced to make a heart-wrenching decision ? deliver baby Haylee prematurely so Graf could begin treatment immediately, or wait for the baby to mature and most likely lose Jacqui.

"When the doctor said she had to choose between her and Haylee, she chose Haylee instantly," Paul said. "She cared so much more about everyone else."

Eventually, doctors and Paul convinced Jacqui to deliver Haylee early in order to give them both a chance at life.

Haylee was born on Feb. 4, weighing just 1 pound, 13 ounces. Today, she is home in Hot Springs with Paul. She weighs 12 pounds and is "100 percent healthy."

"There are certain things in life that let you know there is a God," Paul said. "Haylee, out of the gate, she went against every prediction they had about her ? She's a fighter, like her mother."

Once Jacqui knew her daughter was safe, she threw herself into fighting the cancer, Paul said. She posted frequently on her Facebook page, gathering a committed following. On Monday, one poster offered this: "Jacqui, you and your family are in my fervent prayers tonight. We've never met, and yet there's a special place in my heart for all of you."

She relied heavily on her faith, which she shared with her Facebook friends, he said.

"It was prayers constantly," Paul said. "From complete strangers, from everywhere."

Jacqui underwent nearly constant chemotherapy treatments in the Sioux Falls hospital, posting on Facebook on both good and bad days. When doctors informed her that the treatments were no longer helping, she ended them and came home to the Black Hills last week, Paul said.

She fought hard to the end, but when the time came she accepted her death, he said. "I was so proud of her for fighting. She fought so hard."

Jacqui, who grew up in Hill City, met her husband in 2007. They married in 2009.

"I know everybody says this, but it was the real love at first sight thing," he said. "There was no dating process with us. It was just bam, we were together. It was a true soul mate situation."

Jacqui had a daughter, Madison, from a previous relationship. She and Paul had their son, Ryan, who is now 2, as well as Haylee, now 6 months.

Paul, Ryan and Haylee will remain in Hot Springs near his family. He said the "two little Jacquis running around" his house are keeping him strong in spite of the loss.

On Monday, he spent the day planning his wife's funeral services. It wasn't an easy day, he admitted, but it gave him a chance to remember his wife.

"I could talk for days about her," he said. "She was just beautiful and perfect. It was such a blessing to know her."