Mackenzie Paul: TikTok star, 26, dies after filming cancer battle

The husband of a young TikTok creator who filmed her battle with cancer has confirmed her death and said it was a miracle she fought for so long.

Mackenzie Paul, 26, first shared her acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis on social media in a viral video from August 2023.

Following on from this, she documented her treatment journey in vlog-style videos detailing her physical and emotional health both in and out of the hospital.

When she was first diagnosed, Paul had been in the second year of her medicine studies at Michigan State University.

In a heartbreaking video posted to Facebook, her husband, Brandon Paul, confirmed that after 2.5 years of pain, his wife had died.

“As you know, Kenzie is in heaven now,” he 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. But the one thing I am really, really happy about is that she’s not in pain anymore.”

He said that Paul was the “best woman out there” and he was blessed to be married to her.

“I also had to see her go through some very, very tough times, and you know, she was pretty transparent when it came to social media, but there were times when she was in the ICU and she was not breathing on her own — times none of us really shared — and it was a miracle that she made it this far.”

“It doesn’t even feel real, I appreciate all the prayers.

“She was my rock, she was my best friend, she is always going to be my best friend.”

Paul made all of her social media posts with the tagline “taking back what cancer took from me”.

She made her final TikTok post on day 377 of her journey, on January 20.

“I’m losing my voice big time, it is because my throat hurts really bad, and my wisdom teeth are poking up, and I have sores all over my gums,” she said.

“My entire mouth is really painful right now,” she said.

She said, despite this pain, the previous days had been really positive, and some of her family members were visiting soon.

During her journey, Paul published a poetry collection about being a cancer patient titled “This is what it feels like” which interwove 45 poems with her own illustrations.

She also made artwork inspired by her Christian faith, which she sold as prints.

Social media users have been quick to send tributes to Paul and messages of support to her family.

“I will miss seeing you on here sweet girl. I’m so sorry you didn’t get your miracle on earth. My heart breaks for your husband & family/friends,” one user commented.

“You will live on in our hearts forever, as an unselfish and inspirational angel on earth!!!”

“You are going to be missed by everyone. Praying for you and your family”