A rising social media star who gained prominence for the candid way in which she shared her cancer journey has passed away at the age of 14.
Zuza Beine was tragically diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia when she was just three. Over recent years, she had used her growing presence on social media to educate people as to the reality of living with the disease.
Thanks to her videos and continuous efforts to raise awareness, Zuza amassed two million followers online.
According to her Instagram bio, the young teen had survived cancer five times. Heartbreakingly, however, her family released a statement via her social media page on September 23 to confirm that she had died.
“It is with broken hearts that we share that Zuza died yesterday morning. She lived 11 of her 14 years with a relentless cancer, yet lived more fully and gratefully than most. Her being changed us forever, and her dying will too,” her family wrote.
“It is no coincidence to us that the last video she made captures what she was grateful for—a testament to a life filled with both beauty and suffering. More than anything, she wanted to be a normal, healthy kid.
“But what made her life so beautiful was how she learned to face the hardest circumstances, like her disease, and still live fully.”
In a courageous post made just days before her passing, Zuza revealed she was in ‘so much pain’ she could ‘barely walk’. Even so, she went on to list the many things she was grateful for.
“Being diagnosed with cancer has made me deeply grateful for the everyday things that many people often take for granted,” she wrote.
The late teen’s documenting of her daily struggles relating to living with cancer were often juxtaposed. Some days she would take her followers on a trip to a hospital’s cancer ward, and then on others she was just like any other 14-year-old girl, obsessed with Taylor Swift and excited over new makeup products.
Sadly, Zuza’s uncle also passed away a week before her death, with her family requesting that anyone wanting to make donations should donate to her uncle’s wife and children.
Rest in peace, Zuza.