Our hearts go out to Vanessa Hudgens, who lost her father this weekend

A few hours before the premiere of Grease: Live, Vanessa Hudgens tweeted some really sad news — her dad, Greg, had passed away the night before.

But although we can’t even imagine the depth of grief she was experiencing, she refused to let this stop her do the show. Instead, she let him be her inspiration. “Tonight, I do the show in his honor,” she tweeted. And her performance was stunning.

Six months ago, Vanessa posted a picture of her dad on Instagram, revealing that he was in poor health. “My daddy and I,” she wrote in the caption. “Please pray for his healing!!! The more prayers the better.”

Later, she opened up about the pain cancer can cause not only to those suffering from it, but their loved ones as well. In an acceptance speech for the Breakthrough Performer award in 2015, she said:

Losing a loved one is so, so hard, but to something as cruel, painful, and senseless as cancer — that’s perhaps the hardest of all. Our hearts go out to Vanessa and the Hudgens family during this devastating loss.

(Image via Instagram)