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Mackenzie Paul dies: TikToker loses battle to cancer at 26, revealed it 'hurts so bad’ in heartbreaking final video
TikTok star Mackenzie Paul has died after a three-year battle with cancer, her husband shared in an emotional video.
Young American TikTok star Mackenzie Paul has died after a three-year battle with cancer, her husband shared in a 10-minute Facebook video. She was 26.
Mackenzie’s husband, Brandon Paul, captioned his emotional announcement video, “I love you so much, we will be together soon. Thank you for being my best friend forever and always.“
Who was Mackenzie Paul?
Mackenzie first went viral in August 2023 after opening up about her cancer diagnosis on TikTok. When she was diagnosed, she was 23 years old and a second-year medical student at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. The former Lake Superior State University athlete previously revealed that she saw the doctor after feeling dizzy during a clinical rotation.
"Other than being more tired, I really didn't have any symptoms," Mackenzie told People in 2023. "My whole life I've been really healthy. I was a college athlete. But I remember looking at my labs and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is horrible.'"
After being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in October 2023, Mackenzie started sharing her journey on social media. In her series, #TakingBackWhatCancerTookFromMe, she celebrated one small victory at a time.
“I had no idea how truly challenging this journey would be,” Mackenzie told People last year. “I believed I would undergo a stem cell transplant and then return to my life as a medical student. I never imagined that, more than two years later, I would still be fighting for my life, and now, for a miracle.”
In her final video days before her death, Mackenzie revealed that she was losing her voice. “My entire mouth is just really painful right now,” she said. “It sucks because I have an appetite and I’m trying to eat, but it literally hurts so bad it’s bringing me to tears. So if you could please be praying for me.”
What Brandon Paul said
Announcing his wife’s tragic passing, Brandon tearfully said in the video, “As you know, or as most of you know, Kenzie is in heaven now. Selfishly, I wish she was here, still with me, and it’s going to take the whole rest of my life to get over this.”
“But the one thing I am really, really happy about is that she’s not in pain anymore,” he continued. “The past two and a half years, I’ve been blessed to be married to the best woman out there. I also had to see her go through some, some very, very tough times. She was pretty transparent when it came to social media. But there’re some times where she was in the ICU and she was not breathing on her own, where, you know, none of us really shared. It was a miracle that she made it this far.”
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Brandon admitted that his wife's death “doesn’t even feel real.” He described her as his “rock” and “best friend.”
“During this whole past two and a half years, I tried not to take any day for granted,” said Brandon. “She was the strongest, hard working, most disciplined woman I’ve ever met. She made me a better man, a better husband, every single day.”
Brandon recalled that on the morning Mackenzie died, she “wasn’t doing that well.” She had to go to the ER and then the ICU, where she died.
“It’s crazy how fast the leukemia spread,” he said. “That summer when she was in remission, I felt a relief, like it was over. And then that nightmare began when she told me it came back. So our goal was to just spend as much time together as possible and to just do things that she loved.”
“It was also very, very difficult because she was just getting weaker. But anyone who knows Kenzie knows that she’s a warrior. She’s a fighter and she kept fighting for me and she told me that and I knew that. Selfishly I wanted her to fight, but I also wanted her to be at peace,” Brandon added.
He said later in the video that Mackenzie was “very close to going and God performed several miracles and allowed Kenzie to stay with me as long as possible.”
“I’m not sure why she had to go through this,” Brandon added. “I’m not sure why this had to happen. But I’m glad I got to spend the past couple years with the love of my life. She’s my everything. She always will be. She’ll always be my best friend. She’s a rock star. I love her so much.”
