Emotional tributes for a much-loved TikTok star who fearlessly documented her cancer battle online have poured in following her funeral today.
Family, friends and fans gathered to mourn Leah Smith, who sadly died on March 11 at the age of 22. Leah used the platform TikTok to share her fight against Ewing’s Sarcoma – a rare type of cancer affecting bones and soft tissue.
To honour Leah, all those attending the funeral were asked to wear bright yellow, a request made by Leah herself to “be happy”. Her lighthearted humorous videos captivated nearly half a million followers on TikTok, where she balanced fun dances and comedy clips with honest updates about her treatment and hospital stays, reports the Liverpool Echo.
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Speaking to the Echo last year, she said she wanted to start her channel to show people her life living with cancer – ‘the ups and downs of it’. She shared videos of herself doing dances and comedy videos, as well updates on her cancer treatment and stays in hospital. One video was viewed more than 4.5 million times.
Her emotional send-off was held at All Souls Church in Allerton at 2.30pm, with another service at Springwood Crematorium, Allerton at 4pm. The ceremony was also live-streamed on Vimeo.
The church was packed out with young people, many of whom laid sunflowers on Leah’s yellow coffin. Fans left hundreds of tributes and messages of support for Leah’s family on social media before, during and after the service.
One TikTok user said: “It’s Leah’s funeral today, let’s turn TikTok yellow to show our love and our support. She will be so missed.” The video-sharing platform was covered with yellow hearts and bright yellow sunflowers in tribute to Leah.
Another TikTok user said: “Thinking of all Leah’s family and friends today as they lay her to rest.”
Speaking after Leah’s funeral, one fan said: “What a lovely service. Rest easy angel you will never be forgotten.”
A Facebook user commented: “Sending my love to you all, Leah is so missed but will remain in our hearts forever.. I have my yellow top on for her as can’t get to the funeral but you are all in my thoughts at this difficult time. Fly high Leah.”
Another added: “Thinking of you all. Goodnight to such a brave and strong lady.”
Leah’s heartbroken brother, Liam, wore a t-shirt printed with the words: “A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.” Emblazoned on the back were the words, “I love you Leah”.
Ewing’s Sarcoma is a form of cancer that mainly affects children and young people, with most cases diagnosed in people aged 10 to 20. Leah had been complaining of back ache 10 months prior to her formal diagnosis in October 2019, but never imagined she had cancer.
The news of Leah’s death was announced by her boyfriend, Andrew, in a video on TikTok. He said: “We’ll all miss Leah, but we’ll make sure that we never forget her. I want to see everyone speaking about Leah and how amazing she is and how much she helped everyone. We’ll never let Leah be forgotten.”
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