At 23, Sydney Towle was living a bright, full life—until she felt a lump after a run and heard the words: “likely carcinoma, multiple enhancing masses.” What followed was a diagnosis of Stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer typically found in people decades older.

Sydney began sharing her journey online as a way to stay connected and hopeful, quickly building a community of more than 4 million followers on TikTok. Through it all, Sydney continued to speak openly about what it meant to live with cancer: the physical toll, the mental battle, the relationships that changed, and the lessons she learned while confronting questions most people her age never expect to face. 

On August 5, we learned that Sydney had died from cancer at just 26 years old.

In this conversation, recorded during her cancer journey, Sydney spoke with remarkable openness about living in the face of uncertainty and what mattered most to her when time felt stolen. Her words, and the kindness, humor, vulnerability, and perspective she shared, carry even more weight now.

Sydney shared:

• Receiving her rare cancer diagnosis alone in a parking lot.
• How she knew it was cancer before she was diagnosed + her advice for others.
• Why she chose to share her story on TikTok
• Surviving a viral hate campaign of people on the internet accusing her of “faking cancer”
• The mental battle of pretending to be “just a normal 25-year-old” while living with a rare  cancer
• Dating while in chemo + redefining love 
• The mantras that keep her going.
• Why she no longer believes “everything happens for a reason” but still believes in kindness, empathy, and intuition.
• Using humor and disassociation to cope with cancer treatment
• Fertility preservation and cancer 
• How friendships change +  who shows up when life gets hard
• Finding hope when there is no finish line in sight
• Life lessons at 25: what really matters when time feels stolen.

Honor Sydney Towle’s Memory By Donating to Her Family’s GoFundMe

Sydney’s Book Recommendation: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig