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Influencer Sydney Towle dies at 26 after three years chronicling her life with a rare cancer

Towle was a famous influencer when she was diagnosed with a rare type of bile duct cancer three years ago; she chronicled her life with the disease.
Javier Escribano Editor Spain 7 August 2026

Influencer Sydney Towle, who chronicled her life with a rare cancer, has passed away at the age of 26, three years after being diagnosed with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile duct cancer. She died on August 5, and one day later her social media accounts confirmed the sad news. "We will always love you so much Sydney. I am so proud of how hard you fought. I love you", read the caption of the post.

Towle had over 220,000 followers on Instagram, but her largest follower base was on TikTok, where she had over one million. She was already a famous TikToker with nearly half a million followers when she was in college. In August 2023, she announced she had been diagnosed with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile duct cancer, very infrequent in people under 50 years old.

She continued making videos and content, chronicling her life with the disease and the many treatments, including some medical trials she underwent, becoming a source of inspiration for thousands of people, giving conferences, and in May 2026 she modelled with swimsuits revealing her scars. "Being able to walk for a swimwear brand that is empowering women to embrace those scars", she said at the time (via People).

Editor Spain Javier Escribano wrote for Gamereactor from 2024, covering sport alongside video games and world news. His work appeared on the Spanish and international editions.
Full profile Gamereactor author since 2024 · 5,329 published articles
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