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Rachel Yaffe, a popular TikTok star, has died. She was 27.
The social media personality died on Friday, Oct. 11, after battling a rare form of liver cancer for several years.
Yaffe’s death was announced in an online obituary, noting that funeral services in Maryland “are private.”
Yaffe died of a rare liver cancer. rachelkyaffe/Instagram The internet personality’s death was announced in an online obituary. rachelkyaffe/InstagramShe is survived by her parents, a sister and brother, her grandmother and “loving dog, Layla.”
Yaffe previously revealed she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 20.
“I went to a doctor over the summer, who knew me personally, and she felt around my whole body. She even felt my liver and she didn’t feel anything, but she was like, ‘I can tell in your eyes that you feel like something is wrong with you,’” Yaffe shared in an April 2023 TikTok video.
“I feel like everyone was making me feel like it was my anxiety, like, I was crazy. … I went the next day to get an ultrasound. I thought I was just allergic to gluten because I was also getting bloated.”
She is survived by her parents, siblings and a grandmother. rachelkyaffe/Instagram The obit also mentioned Yaffe’s dog Layla. rachelkyaffe/InstagramA liver specialist then found that Yaffe had a “20-centimeter tumor” on her liver. It was later found to be malignant.
“It is a super rare, adolescent liver cancer,” she explained. “A few days later, I met with the surgeon, who told me he was going to remove it and that everything was gonna be fine, and I believed him.”
However, months later, Yaffe’s cancer returned in her liver and lungs and quickly progressed to stage 4.
Yaffe posted videos about her treatment. rachelkyaffe/Instagram In a September video, Yaffe shared that it was “hard” for her “to get up and move around.” rachelkyaffe/TikTokThe online personality moved back in with her parents while undergoing proton therapy treatment.
“It made me feel super fatigued, tired, weak. I had some other complications and symptoms going on,” she revealed in an August video. “I finally started to feel a little bit strong enough to come back to New York, where my support system of friends are and where I also feel more inspired to go on walks and strengthen my body a little bit.”
Then, in a video shared one month later, Yaffe said she was “so happy” to be back in New York City following treatment but admitted it had not “been easy” being back there.
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“I am so grateful to be back in my space, surrounded by my friends,” she said at the time. “That alone has been really helpful for me mentally. I lost so much of my strength when I was getting radiation, and I’m starting from day one. It’s been hard for me to get up and move around.”
While her healing was hard both“physically and mentally,” Yaffe wanted to focus “on the small things that bring [her] joy.”
The family has asked those who want to honor Yaffe’s memory to consider donating to Experience Camps, a nonprofit organization that supports grieving children.
