28-year-old TikTok star with a 'beautiful soul' dies after five year battle with rare cancer
An influencer has died after a five year battle with a rare form of cancer, which was discovered when she had a pain in her knee which left her struggling to work.
Natasha Allen, aged 28, has died after her battle with stage four synovial sarcoma, a cancer that is located in the soft tissue lining of the joints.
The New Yorke resident, who was diagnosed in 2020, went viral for sharing her cancer journey online and raising awareness about the rare disease.
her death was announced with a post on her Instagram page. The caption read: “Natasha was a beautiful soul full of love, kindness, and joy. She touched countless hearts and she was a big advocate for synovial sarcoma awareness. Her spirit will continue to inspire all who had the privilege of knowing her”
It ended with a quote from Natasha herself: “Find meaning in your own life, find what makes you happy, find how you can make the world around you better.”
The online star died on Friday (August 22). Fans were asked to make donations in her honour to pay towards her funeral service and also synovial sarcoma research.
Many of her 36,000 Instagram followers left messages of condolence on the post. One person who also has cancer said: “I've been following Natasha along her cancer journey for years, we were diagnosed around the same time. I knew, and she knew, that stage 4 synovial sarcoma would eventually take her, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. Rest easy, Natasha, and may your memory be a lifelong blessing.”
One person who met Natasha in person said: “I met Natasha while working at a Sephora a couple years ago. She was sitting there with one of her family members while we chatted at the makeup studio and she has such a beautiful spirit about her. You can tell that she didn’t let anything hold her back and she was a fighter! sending her family and friends so much love praying for your safe journey.”
A third person said they were in tears after learning of Natasha’s death.
Natasha had previously told the Daily Mail that she was healthy before she received her devastating diagnosis. “I had a clean bill of health. . . I played basketball for eight years before I had a knee issue that [made me] stop playing organised sports, but I would go to the gym and loved biking,” she said.
She aslo explained that the first symptom came in early 2019 when she got a sudden and severe pain in her right knee while she was in her last semester at college. As she had previously injured her knee, she said her doctor initially didn’t think too much about her pain. “He said it was likely because I had put more weight on the right leg because of the surgery [on my left],” she said.
By the summer of 2019, however, the pain had got so intense she was having trouble walking. She started phyiscal therapy, but when her pain had not eased she was sent for an MRI in November 2019. This revealed she had what medics believed to be a cyst on her knee.
A sample was due to be sent for a biopsy, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic this was delayed. It wasn’t until July 2020 that doctors carried this out and discovered the cyst was actually a tumour.
Natasha said: “I felt like my whole life was falling apart. I was one year out of college, still trying to figure out who I was and now I had this huge diagnosis. I was alone during that appointment, and I was crying the most I had ever cried. I was 23 and told I had a rare and aggressive cancer.”
She began treatment in September 2020, which concluded in February 2021. Seven months later, however, during a routine follow-up scan, she discovered that her cancer had not only returned but had also spread to her lungs.