12 March 2024 , 09:08
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Inspirational young TikTok star Leah Smith who used the platform to document her battle with cancer has died.
Leah, from Woolton, Merseyside, died on Monday at the age of 22, it has been announced. She was suffering from Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects the bones and soft tissue. Ewing's Sarcoma mainly affects children and young people, with most cases diagnosed in people aged 10 to 20.
In a heartbreaking update, Leah's boyfriend Andrew shared the news of her death. "This is just a message to anyone that's followed Leah or gave her any support or any nice comments," he wrote. "I'm sad to say that she passed away today at around 11.30 this morning. I just want to say thank you to everyone.
"All your comments did help - she did actually read all of them. Anyone who said anything nice ever - it means more than you realise. "We'll all miss Leah but 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."
Within hours of the news being announced, 50,000 tributes were posted to herWhen news of Leah's death was announced, there was an outpouring of support for her family and friends on TikTok. There were nearly 50,000 messages posted beneath boyfriend Andrew's video within hours and one read: "Rest in peace beautiful, you taught me to be strong even in the darkest of times and you will be in my memory forever, rest easy sweet girl."
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Speaking in 2020, she 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 most definitely wrong." Leah, who had nearly half a million followers on TikTok, captured people's hearts by sharing hospital updates on the video-sharing app.
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." Leah shared videos of herself doing dances, comedy videos and cancer updates. One video was viewed more than 4.5 million times.
The day before she died, Leah's best friend Vikki issued the following update on TikTok: "Leah is on end of life now and is unable to move or talk, but she is reacting to us with noises and knows we are there.
"Andrew hasn't left her side, he's been an absolute rock to her throughout this journey. The main thing is that Leah is so peaceful now, she looks as beautiful as ever and we're just grateful we can be at her bedside and hold her and to comfort her through it."