A beloved TikToker has tragically died at the age of 22, her boyfriend announced in a heartbreaking video.
Leah Smith, from Liverpool, UK, was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2019 and chronicled her battle with the disease on TikTok and Instagram.
She passed away in the morning of Monday (March 12) from Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer in the bones and soft tissue.
Taking to TikTok on her behalf, Leah's boyfriend Andrew announced the tragic news to her half a million followers.
The video has been viewed 8 million times, racking up 731,000 likes and 60,000 comments at the time of writing.
In the clip, the grieving boyfriend 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 realized.
"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."
Several high-profile TikTokers took to the comments to express their devastation over the loss of the young content creator.
Fellow TikToker Katylee Bailey wrote: "Leah was such a beautiful person inside and out! She will never be forgotten! Rest in peace."
A follower penned: "Leah Smith. A girl we will never forget – rest in paradise angel. Thoughts are with you all."
Another TikTok user commented: "RIP Leah Smith. A truly inspirational woman xx."
This user simply wrote: "i’m acc in tears [sic]."
A friend of Leah, Vikki, had earlier in the week shared an update on the TikToker's health, stating that she was "unable to move or talk" and was on "end of life" care.
"The main thing is, 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 hand to comfort her through it," she continued.
In one of the last TikTok posts that she uploaded herself, Leah was seen eating pasta from her hospital bed.
"Ate my dinner for the first time in 3 weeks proud of myself," she captioned the post.
In another devastating video posted to her TikTok page last month, Leah informed her followers - in the update she "never wanted to do" - that doctors had concluded her treatment.
She said: "The doctors have said there’s no point trying to give me more antibiotics and fluids because it just isn’t working anymore. All the pain meds aren’t working so they really just want to get me to a comfortable state as much as possible.
"Idk what this means for me if it is the end of the journey but all my family have come around and I am just going to act like I’m good and great because quit frankly I am so so scared. I don’t want to die yet. I’m sorry."
