TikToker Anna Grace Phelan Dead at 19 After Cancer Battle
Originally appeared on E! Online
The influencer community has lost a beloved member.
TikToker Anna Grace Phelan died May 23 after a battle with brain cancer. The Jefferson, Georgia-based influencer was 19.
"It is with great sadness to announce that our beautiful daughter, Anna Grace Phelan, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," read a message posted on the influencer's TikTok page. "So many of you have followed her journey through a difficult battle with cancer and bore witness to her powerful testimony of faith."
"Thank you for the countless thousands of prayers for healing and peace," the message continued. "May we all rejoice with the assurance that she is in Heaven now, and she has been healed. Let us also remember that the only path to the promised kingdom of Heaven is through salvation in Jesus Christ."
Anna is survived by her parents, William "Buddy" Phelan and Nadine Phelan, brother Harper David Phelan and other family members.
"I started to experience numbness in the left side of my face and in the right side of my leg," Anna said in a TikTok video posted last August. "We scheduled an MRI appointment of my brain, and that scan did show a lesion on my brain."
Her symptoms soon worsened. "I started losing my balance. I started having vision problems in my left eye, my numbness in my face and on my leg is still here," she continued. "My speech started to seem weird. My head's very foggy."
Anna then underwent a brain biopsy, which revealed she had a tumor. She was soon diagnosed with an inoperable, Grade 4, malignant and aggressive brain tumor called a glioblastoma.
"This is definitely the hardest news I've ever received," she said in a TikTok video in September 2024. "By all means, this is not easy. Just going to trust in the Lord and try and keep pushing forward."
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Anna, who was born in Orlando, Fla., had documented her brain cancer battle on social media. Her diagnosis came in September 2024, days before she was set to start her freshman year of college, per her GoFundMe page and a month after symptoms began.
"I started to experience numbness in the left side of my face and in the right side of my leg," Anna said in a TikTok video posted last August. "We scheduled an MRI appointment of my brain, and that scan did show a lesion on my brain."
Her symptoms soon worsened. "I started losing my balance. I started having vision problems in my left eye, my numbness in my face and on my leg is still here," she continued. "My speech started to seem weird. My head's very foggy."
Anna then underwent a brain biopsy, which revealed she had a tumor. She was soon diagnosed with an inoperable, Grade 4, malignant and aggressive brain tumor called a glioblastoma.
"This is definitely the hardest news I've ever received," she said in a TikTok video in September 2024. "By all means, this is not easy. Just going to trust in the Lord and try and keep pushing forward."
In her final days, Anna spent increased time with her loved ones. A video of her hanging out with friends in a backyard was also shared to her page May 15.
One day earlier, the TikToker revealed to her followers that her brain tumor had grown and was inoperable. "Keep me in your prayers," she said in her May 14 video. "Thank you all so much."
Anna will be honored at a funeral at a church in Jefferson May 29.
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