TikTok star Bella Brave, whose health struggles captured the hearts of millions of followers, has died days after being placed into a medically induced coma with a viral lung infection. She was just 10.
“Our brave girl left her legacy here on earth to dance on streets of gold July 14th 2024 at 4:19pm ET,” her mother Kyla Thomson wrote Monday on social media. “Bella passed peacefully in our arms.”
Bella was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2013, and was soon diagnosed with a trifecta of serious health issues: dwarfism, severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and Hirschsprung’s disease, a rare intestinal malady. She underwent a successful bowel transplant last year.
She spent more than 1,000 days hospitalized during her short life and went through nearly 30 surgeries.
Bella and her mom began recording videos on TikTok, drawing more than 7 million followers. As recently as Sunday, the girl was “still with us, and still fighting,” her mother said in an Instagram video. But just hours later, Bella was gone.
“Everything is hard without her,” Kyla told People.
The loss sparked widespread outpourings of support.
“Her time with us was too short, but her impact will always be remembered,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe wrote on X.
The Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation, for which Bella was an ambassador, remembered the little girl as someone who “defined the word BRAVE in how she encouraged others at difficult times, inspiring hope in every person she met.”
Kyla urged followers to keep her daughter’s memory alive.
“Please keep her name on your lips, her memories alive and her bravery in your hearts,” the bereft mom urged. “Please share with us every detail of how she touched your life or kept you brave. Bella would want you to remember: God is love, be brave, and you are never too old to bring a stuffy.”
