(AP) — Sydney Towle, a social media content material creator who projected enduring optimism as she chronicled her life with a uncommon type of most cancers, has died, in keeping with her household. She was 26.
The Associated Press reported on Sydney Towle’s life, career and lasting impact.
For more breaking national headlines, explore our latest U.S. news stories.
Towle was recognized with cholangiocarcinoma, an aggressive type of most cancers within the bile ducts, in August 2023. Her mom, Elizabeth Morrow, and brother, Austin Towle, posted a video to her TikTok account confirming she died Wednesday.
Learn more about cholangiocarcinoma, the rare bile duct cancer that Sydney Towle battled.
Read more health news coverage, including medical research and patient stories.
“Syd went peacefully final evening after an nearly three-year lengthy battle with cholangiocarcinoma,” her brother mentioned. “She fought actually onerous, and we’re so pleased with her, and we thank all of you to your assist through the years.” Towle’s mom mentioned they appreciated the messages of assist and that “she won’t be forgotten.”
Her household described her as “an limitless ray of sunshine” and a buddy to many. Sydney Elizabeth Towle was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on Nov. 15, 1999, and grew up in Hobe Sound, Florida, in keeping with the New York Instances. The newspaper reported that she died on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being in Bethesda, Maryland.
On the time of her prognosis, Towle already had a presence on social media the place she shared movies from her on a regular basis life. She typically posted from the seaside and beloved the outside. She was an avid surfer and runner.
As soon as she acquired the prognosis at age 23, she started posting her unvarnished actuality of the illness and therapy whereas holding quick to her hobbies, fashion and constructive angle. She had over 1 million followers on TikTok alone.
In a video posted days after she was recognized, Towle mentioned, “I’m in good spirits, I’m smiling. If something, it simply makes me admire life extra.” That primarily turned the ethos that guided her on-line presence, the place she shared movies of herself operating, going out with mates and touring alongside movies from a hospital mattress or at chemotherapy appointments.
In a column this yr advocating for elevated funding for analysis of the uncommon illness, Towle’s mom wrote that she had seen her daughter turn out to be “a beacon of hope for thus many” by way of her candid on-line presence. “Hundreds of individuals ship her messages, cease her on the road and depart feedback on her movies, describing how her vulnerability has helped them by way of their very own struggles,” Morrow wrote in February.
Towle graduated from Dartmouth School in 2022, the place she studied authorities and environmental research. She labored as a social media supervisor at Epic Video games.
She had posted on her LinkedIn account about plans to run the 2026 New York Metropolis Marathon in November to boost cash for the Cholangiocarcinoma Basis. She had raised greater than $10,000 for the nonprofit that advocates for analysis and offers sufferers and caregivers with sources.
“I do know it may appear loopy to attempt to run a marathon with every thing happening,” she wrote on the platform months in the past. However she famous the significance of hope in her expertise with the illness. “Hope retains us alive, it retains us going, it makes the not possible appear potential.”
Towle is survived by her mom and brother. Her father, Philip Towle, died in 2016.
The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation provides education, research updates and support for patients and families affected by bile duct cancer.
Stay updated with other trending world news and major global developments.
