This dark twist in Asma’s story is just the latest in a string of surprising turns in her life; from her days as a girl in London, to her time as Syria’s “desert rose” of a first lady, to her fall from grace during the civil war.

The family drama surrounding fallen Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad took a new twist Thursday as his wife was reported to be facing a “50/50″ cancer battle. The Daily Telegraph of London reported that Asma al-Assad is “severely ill” from acute myeloid leukemia,

Assad, the 49-year-old wife of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. And the future does not bode well. A source at The Guardian reports that Asma al-Assad's chances of survival are now only 50%. “Asma is dying,