Sydney Towle, a social media content creator known for sharing her journey with a rare cancer, has died at the age of 26. Her family confirmed her death on Wednesday, stating she passed away peacefully after a nearly three-year battle with cholangiocarcinoma, an aggressive cancer of the bile ducts.
Towle was diagnosed with the disease in August 2023 at the age of 23. While already active on social media, she began to candidly document her reality of living with cancer, her treatments, and her ongoing engagement with life. She maintained a positive attitude, continuing to share her passions for the outdoors, surfing, and running, often alongside hospital visits and chemotherapy appointments.
Her family remembered her as "an endless ray of sunshine." Born on November 15, 1999, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Towle grew up in Hobe Sound, Florida. She died at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Her mother, Elizabeth Morrow, and brother, Austin Towle, announced her passing via a video posted to her TikTok account, expressing gratitude for the years of support from her online community.
Towle's mother noted in a column that her daughter became a "beacon of hope for so many" through her online presence. Thousands of messages from individuals sharing how Towle's vulnerability had helped them through their own struggles were received.
Before her diagnosis, Towle was a student at Dartmouth College, graduating in 2022 with a degree in government and environmental studies. She also worked as a social media manager at Epic Games. She had planned to run the 2026 New York City Marathon to raise funds for the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting research and providing resources for patients and caregivers. She had already raised over $10,000 for the foundation, emphasizing the importance of hope in her personal experience with the disease.
Towle is survived by her mother and brother. Her father, Philip Towle, died in 2016.