After eight months of the alternative treatment failing to effectively treat his advancing cancer, Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica. During the flight, his vital functions worsened. The flight was diverted to Miami, Florida, where he was taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital (now the University of Miami Hospital). He died there shortly afterwards on 11 May 1981, at the age of 36, due to the spread of cancer to his lungs and brain.