Marley was a Rastafarian.

He was diagnosed with a melanoma in his toe in 1977. Doctors advised Marley, who was a devout Rastafarian, to have the toe amputated. He refused, on grounds that it would possibly interfere with his performing and it was against his Rastafarian beliefs. A few years later, it had spread to his brain. He passed in 1981.

Doctors could have stopped the spread of cancer by amputating the toe. But Marley refused, and opted instead for a less invasive solution. The Rastafarian belief is based on The Book of Leviticus 21:5 in the Old Testament and The Torah. “They shall not make baldness upon their heads, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.”

So while his death very well could have been prevented, Marley went to his grave without compromising his spiritual beliefs.