Zuza Beine, a teenager who gained an online following documenting her battle with cancer, has died at the age of 14, her family announced Monday. Beine lived with acute myeloid leukemia for 11 of her 14 years, sharing her experiences on social media and inspiring many with her resilience and gratitude.
Her family confirmed her death in a post on Beine’s Instagram account, stating, “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.” The loss is being mourned by her family, friends, and the online community she cultivated through her openness about her illness and her involvement with the content creation group, Glow house.
According to her social media pages, Beine was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. In the days leading up to her death, she openly shared her struggles with pain, posting on Instagram on September 20, “I’m in so much pain today I can’t take it.” Despite her suffering, she consistently expressed gratitude for life’s simple joys, previously writing about being thankful for “being able to taste the most appetizing foods” and “being able to do different hairstyles.”
Her family emphasized that Zuza embraced life despite her challenges. “More than anything,she wanted to be a normal,healthy kid,” they wrote. “But what made her life so lovely was how she learned to face the hardest circumstances, like her disease, and still live fully.”
Those wishing to honour Beine’s memory are encouraged to donate to a GoFundMe campaign supporting her late uncle’s wife and children: https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-the-stieber-family?qid=c8dc4f5f88ed6c0cf8c2abba54833a7c.