Posted 28 minutes agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret Down22 Years After His Tragic Death, Kaley Cuoco Is Still Honoring Her "8 Simple Rules" Co-Star John RitterKaley was just 17 years old when her beloved co-star John died suddenly after falling ill on the set of "8 Simple Rules."by Stephanie SoteriouBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink Kaley Cuoco was just 16 years old when she landed her breakout role on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules, which starred John Ritter and Katey Sagal as Paul and Cate Hennessy, a married couple trying to navigate raising their three children. Gregg Deguire / Getty Images Kaley played eldest daughter Bridget, with Amy Davidson and Martin Spanjers co-starring as her siblings Kerry and Rory. But tragedy struck soon after filming for Season 2 had begun in September 2003, and after three episodes had been completed, 54-year-old John fell ill during a rehearsal one afternoon. Jean-paul Aussenard / Getty Images Speaking to Howard Stern on SiriusXM back in 2012, Katey recalled: "We shot a promo and he didn't feel well, and so at 4 in the afternoon he went to his room, after we shot the promo, and we all went home - we were done for the day." Gale Adler / Getty Images John's wife, Amy Yasbeck, later revealed that the star was suffering from chest pains, severe nausea, and vomiting while on set and went to the hospital at 6 p.m.. "Literally five hours later, at 9 o'clock at night, I get a call saying John's in the hospital and he's had a heart attack," Katey continued. "So we get to the hospital, and within a couple of hours, he'd passed. It was a shock." Gale Adler / Getty Images Sadly, the heart attack was actually a misdiagnosis, and John's cause of death was an undetected aortic dissection, which is when the body's main artery tears. John's family sued the hospital for negligence, and in 2008, Amy said she believes her husband would still be alive had he been correctly diagnosed. Steve Granitz / Getty Images Meanwhile, Kaley was just 17 years old when her beloved co-star passed, and remembered going to the 8 Simple Rules set the day after he died in the 2021 documentary Superstar: John Ritter. Gale Adler / Getty Images "Everyone was just crying, bawling, and then people started telling stories," she said, later tearfully adding: "I really love him so much, to this day." Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images Kaley has been proactive in keeping John's memory alive in the 22 years since his death, regularly sharing tributes to him on social media. Chris Weeks / Getty Images And on Monday, the star, now 39, revealed that she had won an auction for John's jacket from his time on the TV show Three's Company at a special event raising money for the John Ritter Foundation. Variety / Getty Images Sharing a selection of photos of herself at the event on Instagram, Kaley concluded her carousel with a picture of herself wearing the jacket. Instagram @kaleycuoco / Via instagram.com Kaley wrote in the post's caption: "💜Honored to be part of yet another fantastic and successful @johnritterfoundation event ! This foundation has saved many lives and kept John Ritter's memory alive. I'm always thrilled to be part of it.""PS- the last pic.... I bid on John's original Three's Company cast jacket and won. I was so thrilled and will cherish forever!💜" she added. After a brief hiatus, 8 Simple Rules continued filming, with John's death written into the show. The rest of Season 2 and the third and final season of the series followed Cate and the kids as they struggled to come to terms with Paul's death. ABC / Via Disney+ "Everybody was devastated, and it didn't feel right to end it immediately, and it didn't feel right to go on. There was really nothing that felt right," Katey told Howard Stern. "We took a month break, and they played it out like a real thing; the father of the family died, that's what the decision was."Remembering Paul during the same interview, Katey said he was "the best. Like an angel guy, like an amazing, soulful, wonderful, kind, loving man."