Maddy Baloy, a TikToker who captured the hearts of millions after documenting her life with terminal cancer online, has died at the age of 26.
The Florida star, who posted candid videos while fulfilling her bucket-list dreams, including dining with Gordon Ramsay at his Miami restaurant, died Wednesday night, her fiancé said.
“Madison passed away peacefully last night,” said her partner Louis Risher. PEOPLE in a statement Thursday, adding that she was “surrounded by love.”
“She’s so special,” Risher said. In fact, yesterday I turned 27 years old. I was holding her hand all day and that’s all I needed.
Baloy, from Tampa, began suffering from stomach problems in the summer of 2022 and was later diagnosed with stage four colon cancer after vomiting blood.
Madison Baloy, of Tampa, Florida, was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer after going to the emergency room for what she thought was a common stomach virus.
Chef Gordon Ramsay helped make her dreams come true by flying her to his restaurant and cooking for her after she revealed it was a bucket list aspiration.
According to the American Cancer Society, a colostomy is an opening made during surgery in the abdominal wall of the abdomen. A colostomy changes the way your body passes stool.
But the 26-year-old turned the tragic situation into something positive by sharing her powerful journey on social media, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers.
In her last TikTok posted in March from Japan, she showed viewers medical photographs of her cancer in various parts of her body.
She went on to explain that she was on her dream vacation to Kyoto, but it was so cold she had been “shivering,” so she wanted to take on the challenge of taking a bath with her colostomy bag.
“Hi, my name is Madison and I have stage four terminal cancer and I haven’t showered in a year,” she said.
She added: ‘My cancer is in my large intestine, my small intestine, my uterus, my ovaries, basically the whole bottom half of my body is full of cancer. Because of that, I had to have emergency surgery to receive a colostomy. [bag].’
As tears filled her eyes, she added, “The only thing I can think of is how wonderful a bath would be.” This house has the most beautiful bathroom I have ever seen. But because I have a colostomy, I haven’t bathed in a year.’
Baloy noted that after undergoing his colostomy, he never imagined he would bathe again because it would be too “dirty.”
‘But I will be in Japan for a very limited period of time. I’m here on Earth for a very limited time and I don’t want to be afraid to take a bath. So come take a bath with me,’ she said as tears ran down his face.
The video showed a clip of her in a bubble bath while smiling from ear to ear.
Madison Baloy, from Tampa, Florida, shared the devastating moment she burst into tears while taking a shower for the first time in over a year during a trip to Japan.
The 26-year-old said that after having the colostomy she never imagined she would bathe again because it would be too ‘messy’
According to the American Cancer Society, a colostomy is an opening made during surgery in the abdominal wall of the abdomen. A colostomy changes the way your body expels stool (Madison colostomy bag shown)
Madison has also given viewers a glimpse into her life after being diagnosed, and recently shared her excitement about being able to take a bath after a year.
As he sat in the bathroom, he said, “I hope you can take a thousand baths in your life.”
Following her diagnosis, Baloy made her first cancer TikTok to share her bucket list that she was “in a hurry to finish.”
Upon reaching number one, Madison said she wanted to “see it all.”
She also revealed that she wanted to party in a DJ booth, learn how to roll a joint, get married, get a tattoo with her grandmother, sleep under a willow tree, be a guest on a podcast and meet Gordon.
In response to his clip, the 57-year-old chef said he would love to meet Madison, but not just as a regular meet-up.
“First of all, I would like to take you to Miami, have dinner with you and your friends in Hell’s Kitchen and then the next night, Friday night, you will be our special guest at the opening of our new restaurant. Lucky Cat, in South Beach” , said.
After their meet and greet, the chef added: ‘I hope you had the best time @madison in Miami! It was a great honor for you to be my VVIP last night at #LuckyCat! Thank you also to everyone at TikTok for helping ensure these dreams come true.”
Baloy, from Tampa, began suffering from stomach problems in the summer of 2022 and was later diagnosed with stage four colon cancer after vomiting blood.
Her stomach pain, nausea and fatigue quickly became too much and she went to urgent care.
Baloy started feeling symptoms last year while at a music festival with his friends. He initially thought he had IBS or Crohn’s disease.
But her stomach pain, nausea and fatigue increased rapidly and she went to urgent care.
A nurse told her she might have cancer and directed her to the emergency room, where doctors diagnosed her with stage four colon cancer.
Baloy told USA Today that after receiving his diagnosis, he turned to TikTok to find other people in his position and in hopes of reclaiming his identity.
“I was very afraid that people would only see me for cancer and forget who I was,” she said.
He noted that he wanted to tell the world that he was still very much a “person” and began documenting a day in his life online.
Baloy said he had accepted the possibility of having cancer forever and was trying to make the most of the time he had.
“Whether I live only five years or if I somehow live to be 70 years old, at some point I will die with cancer still in my body,” he said.
