Woman, 25, Announces Own Death On Social Media With A Powerful Final Message

A 25-year-old woman with a rare form of cancer wrote her own eulogy — and her final message is resonating with many online.

“If you’re reading this then it means I have died from my battle with cancer and my family are posting my final message on my behalf,” read recent posts on Daniella Thackray’s Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

Although the posts are dated Feb. 23, her fiancé, Tom Calvert, told Today that Thackray’s funeral was held Monday.

Thackray, who resided in Leeds, England, at the time of her death, decided to write a final message lacking any sense of bitterness about her tragic situation. Instead, she opted to celebrate her life.

“I LOVED my life,” Thackray wrote. “Everything I had achieved was what I wanted. I loved my job, my fiancé, my family, my friends and my dog, and the house we were going to buy and the future we were making for ourselves.”

Thackray wanted those reading her message to “enjoy the little things” in life.

“We can’t control what happens to us, [but] we can control how we react,” Thackray wrote. “I chose not to mourn the life I was losing despite being so devastated, but to instead enjoy every moment I had left.

“As I have always said and believed you should enjoy the little things in life and cherish every moment! Romanticise your life! Do whatever makes you happy and don’t let anyone take the joy of life away from you.”

She concluded by thanking her loved ones “for making my life so magical” and leaving a special message to her fiancé: “Go enjoy your life now, you deserve it.”

Social media users who had never met Thackray were touched by her final words.

“I wish I had known you, what an immaculate human being,” a LinkedIn user wrote.

“I don’t think [I’ve] ... ever read something quite so profoundly beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time,” a Facebook user wrote. “What a strong, courageous and amazing person you must have been Daniella.”

Thackray noted in her posts that she died from cholangiocarcinoma, a disease she described as “a rare aggressive cancer with often no obvious causes and no cure.”

The Mayo Clinicexplains that cholangiocarcinoma “is a very difficult type of cancer to treat,” with surgery, liver transplantation, chemotherapy and palliative care recommended. It also notes that smoking, older age and diabetes may increase the risk of developing the condition.

But Thackray said in her message “that not all cancers are caused by lifestyle choices, in some cases it’s genetics or unfortunately it just happens.”

“In my case, despite me being very healthy and active, a cancer started in my bile ducts which was not caused by anything in my control and my life was never the same again,” she wrote.

“I really really do hope that in the years to come more research is done about this horrid cruel disease so that more lives can be saved.”

Thackray’s former employer, 26 Agency, is fundraising for St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds in her memory.