Mariah Carey's Estranged Sister Alison Had a 'Tough Life' Before Her Death Due to a Severe Brain Injury, Pal Reveals

Mariah Carey ’s sister did not have a glamorous day-to-day before her recent passing.

According to a pal of Alison Carey , the sibling of the Hollywood star lived a difficult life in Coxsackie, N.Y., over the last several years.

“We saw it coming, but it’s still a shock,” friend David Baker told a news outlet of her Saturday, August 24, death. “She got ill fairly quickly and a month later, she’s gone.”

David, who knew Alison for years before her death at age 63 , confessed she “had a tough life.”

Weeks before her demise, David shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Alison had entered hospice. The confidante was one of the last people to take care of her, as he volunteered to stay with Alison amid suggestions she be moved to a nursing home.

“She got her wish . She died in her own home,” David shared. “Alison was a highly intelligent, very sensitive person.”

David and Alison first met in 2015 after Alison suffered a serious brain injury during a home invasion. Though she lived in Long Island at the time of the incident, she was moved upstate to seek treatment. Things escalated from there, as during her stay in rehab, she suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Alison’s brother Morgan then reached out to a Facebook group David was a part of and asked if anyone was able to go visit his sister .

“I knew when I saw the request that I was the only person anywhere near Albany, New York, so I said, ‘Well, I’m going to go for this,’” he remembered. “They eventually sent me to the hospital and I met Alison.”

The duo became extremely close, as David claimed “hardly a day went by” in which they didn’t talk.

“I saw somebody who needed help and I knew I could do it,” he stated. “She’d tell me that she was so glad I was around. More recently, before she got sick, if I went somewhere for an hour, she’d call and say, ‘When are you coming back?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, I’ll be there in 20 minutes.’ And then she’d call a second time and say, ‘When are you coming back?’ Because short-term memory was affected by the brain injury.”

David noted that Alison — who had three sons and one daughter — was able to see all her children before passing. As for her relationship with Mariah, David noted that Alison told him she hadn't seen the superstar for over two decades.

In Mariah’s memoir, she addressed her complicated relationship with Alison and Morgan, writing that it is “emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact.”

In a recent interview, Mariah revealed she is currently mourning the loss of both Alison and her mother , Patricia .

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"My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day," she said. "I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed. I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time."

People interviewed David.