Who was Bella Bradford and what happened to her? TikToker announces her own death in final video
TikToker Bella Bradford bid goodbye to her followers prior to her death. The influencer passed away at age 24 after battling cancer. She was known for her love of fashion and documenting her journey of battling the disease.
As per her TikTok account (@bellabradford0), Bella died on Tuesday, October 15, from a rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, which affected her jaw muscle back in 2021. Her final video was uploaded to the video-sharing platform on November 1.
In her “final get-ready with me,” she shared that she was “really sad” to be making the video, as she was aware of it being shared with her followers after her passing. Bradford said:
“Thank you for following me on this fun journey. I hope you look back on all my videos and find a little bit of joy in your day… remember that you live everyday and you only die once.”
Bella Bradford styled a khaki halter dress with a white cardigan and black netted ballet flats. She accessorized the outfit with a pearl-chained teddy bear necklace, oval sunglasses, and a brown baseball cap. The caption of the video, that shared the TikToker’s final words, read:
“Thank you for all your love and support throughout my final stages of life... Filming these videos truly brought me a sense of purpose in my final few months and also connected me with a very kind community of people. I wish you all a beautiful life and please remeber to live each day with as much significance as the next. What a privilege it is to grow old.”
For those uninitiated, Bella Bradford was known mostly on TikTok, where she had amassed nearly 17,000 followers. The bio for her account read, “Lover of life & clothes etc. Living w advanced cancer.”
Bella Bradford was diagnosed with cancer at 22 years old
In another TikTok video, Bella Bradford explained that she received her cancer diagnosis when she was just 22 years old. She shared that she underwent treatment for the same, which included chemotherapy, fertility options, radiotherapy, multiple surgeries to remove the tumor, and also a reconstruction of the jaw.
Bella added that she was able to take a brief break from worrying about her health as she had planned a trip to Europe with her friends. However, just 10 days prior to the holiday, she learned that the cancer had come back to the same spot and had grown “majorly.”
In May, Bella Bradford told followers that her cancer was “incurable,” making her a “palliative cancer patient.”
Nonetheless, she continued to post content online, which mostly included her expressing her interest in fashion. In a pinned video, she explained the features of a Lululemon sports jacket. Bella also did multiple “outfit checks,” and frequently shared “OOTD” videos.
In another popular video of hers, Bella Bradford shared “20 things” she “learnt through having cancer.” She said in the video:
“When you get one shot at life, you don’t get another shot. This is it, life is happening right now. You can’t go from zero to 100 in one step. Zero to 100 takes 100 tiny little steps. You don’t have to be who you were yesterday. Being who you are is as simple as a choice.”
As per the Mayo Clinic, rhabdomyosarcoma starts off as a growth in the cells of soft tissues, which mostly connect organs to other parts of the body. They mostly occur in muscle tissues, like those found in arms and legs, the reproductive system, the urinary system, or the head and neck area.