(Photo by kenziepaul3/Instagram)
TikTok creator Mackenzie Paul has died at the age of 26 following a long and deeply personal fight with cancer. The news was shared by her husband, Brandon Paul, who posted a 10-minute video to Facebook on Thursday, speaking openly through tears about his grief and the life they shared.
“As you know, or as most of you know, Kenzie is in heaven now,” Brandon said. “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.” He went on to explain that while the loss is devastating, there is comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering.
“But the one thing I am really, really happy about is that she’s not in pain anymore,” he said. “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… There’re some times where she was in the ICU and she was not breathing on her own… It was a miracle that she made it this far.”
Brandon described his wife as his “rock” and “best friend,” adding, “During this whole past two and a half years, I tried not to take any day for granted… 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.”
He shared that on the morning of her death, Mackenzie’s condition worsened rapidly. She was taken to the ER and then to the ICU, where she passed away. “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.” Despite her declining health, Brandon said she continued to fight. “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.”
Later, he reflected on the time they were given together. “I’m not sure why she had to go through this… 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’s a rock star. I love her so much.”
Mackenzie publicly revealed her diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia in October 2023. At the time, she was a 23-year-old medical student at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She told People that she fainted in class and later sought medical testing after ongoing dizziness, which led to her diagnosis.
Throughout her illness, Mackenzie documented her journey on TikTok, where she built a community of more than 28,000 followers. In her final video, posted just days before her death, she shared the painful reality of her condition. “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.”
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