Sydney Towle, a TikTok and Instagram character who used her platform to problem stereotypes about most cancers sufferers and others impacted by the illness, died Wednesday at age 26.
Towle’s household confirmed her demise in a publish on her social media platforms, describing her as “an limitless ray of sunshine” and “a daughter, sister, and pal to so many.”
They wrote, “We are going to all the time love you a lot Sydney. I’m so pleased with how arduous you fought. I like you.”
The announcement got here sooner or later after Towle’s brother, Austin, shared on TikTok that his sister had been moved to hospice care.
A Dartmouth School graduate, Towle was dwelling in Los Angeles, California, and dealing in advertising and marketing when she found a lump and a burning sensation in her stomach.
After searching for therapy for what she and her docs believed at first to be a hernia, she was identified with cholangiocarcinoma in 2023. The uncommon and aggressive most cancers types within the bile ducts connecting the liver, gallbladder and small gut.
Amy Sussman through Getty Photographs
Although Towle’s social media had beforehand consisted of selfies and the occasional dance development video, she started sharing movies documenting her expertise with Stage 4 most cancers, and shortly relocated to New York for therapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Most cancers Heart.
Over time, she joined the ranks of influencers often known as “CancerTok,” along with her TikTok viewers rising to greater than 1.1 million followers. On Instagram, her following consisted of over 214,000 customers.
A lot of her posts didn’t draw back from the realities of the illness, together with grueling rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Others, nonetheless, had been aimed toward showcasing her efforts to keep up the lifetime of a typical 20-something in between her medical appointments and hospitalizations.
In 2024, for instance, Towle documented her solo journey throughout Spain, the place she explored Madrid and Toledo, amongst different cities. And in Could of this yr, she visited Miami Swim Week to stroll in The Chemo Membership x Submit Swim runway present.
Thomas Concordia through Getty Photographs
“I’m bringing mild to this, and in order that has inspired me to persevering with posting and sharing, particularly when I’m not doing properly or once I obtain excellent news,” she advised NBC’s “As we speak” in 2024. “It all the time appears to assist individuals really feel much less alone, like they’re not the one ones which are going by way of one thing that’s very difficult.”
Towle’s social media presence, nonetheless, additionally made her a goal of on-line criticism. A 2025 article revealed by The New York Occasions uncovered a contingent of individuals on Reddit who believed Towle was merely leveraging her sickness “for public sympathy and monetary profit.”
These claims, nonetheless, had been rapidly refuted by Towle’s oncologist, Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa. “A younger affected person like Sydney, or at any age actually, can preserve going and look excellent,” he advised the outlet. “Nevertheless it doesn’t undermine that she’s nonetheless dwelling with a really critical matter.”
Regardless of her optimism, Towle revealed in Could that she’d chosen to modify hospitals after being suggested by her docs to start end-of-life care. She mentioned on the time, “We’re not on the level the place we’re giving up.”
