Popular TikTok star dies age 22 following battle with cancer

A TikTok star has died at the age of 22 from a rare form of cancer, her loved ones have confirmed.

Leah Smith from Woolton, in Liverpool, documented her journey with cancer on the social media platform after being diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma – a rare form of cancer that affects the bones and soft tissue.

The sad news of her passing was announced on her TikTok account on Monday, March 11th, to her 500,000 followers.

Leah had been complaining of backache for 10 months before she was formally diagnosed in October 2019.

Speaking in 2020 about her symptoms and first learning she had cancer, Leah said: “I had really bad back pains for 10 months. It was constant, then I lost all the feeling in my left leg and I knew something was definitely wrong.”

She captured the hearts of many as she regularly documented her journey with cancer and shared health updates.

She said: “I wanted to start a TikTok to express my journey and show people my life living with cancer – the ups and downs of it. People absolutely love it.”

In the clip to share the heartbreaking news of Leah’s passing, her boyfriend Andrew said: “I just want to say thank you to everyone. All your comments did help. She did actually read all of them. And anyone who said anything nice ever, it means more than you realised.

“We’ll all miss Leah and we’ll make sure that we never forget her. I want to see everyone speaking about Leah and how amazing she is and how much she helped everyone. We’ll never let Leah be forgotten.”

Her followers rushed to the comments section to pay heartfelt tributes to her, as one said: “Leah smith, a girl we will never forget – rest in paradise angel. thoughts are with you all.”

Another put: “Rip Leah smith you were amazing and so strong with fighting ur battle as hard as you could and we are all so proud of you xx you will never be forgotten.”

A third person wrote: “Leah was such a beautiful person inside and out! She will never be forgotten! Rest in peace.”

Someone else typed: “Leah, the girl who never gave up, the girl who never gave in. So unfair, so deeply sad. Sending an abundance of love to all”

And another added: “Oh my girl, may she rest with the angels. the most beautiful kind girl I’ve ever spoke to. Fly high my beautiful angel.”

Ewing Sarcoma is a type of cancer that begins as a growth of cells in the bones and the soft tissue around the bones. It mostly happens in children and young adults, although it can happen at any age.