The online world and thousands of admirers are mourning the loss of a young and vibrant light. Zuza Beine, a 14-year-old influencer known for her frank and open sharing of life while battling cancer, has passed away after an 11-year struggle with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Her family confirmed her death on the morning of September 22, 2025, expressing their heartbreak and reflecting on the extraordinary way she lived her life—even amidst great pain and challenges.
Early Life and Diagnosis
Zuza Beine was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia when she was about 3½ years old. AML is a serious form of blood and bone marrow cancer, and for most families, receiving such a diagnosis so early in a child’s life is devastating. From that young age, Zuza’s life would be entwined with hospital stays, treatments, hope, relapse, and physical and emotional pain.
Over the next decade, her journey included three bone marrow transplants and surviving the disease five separate times. Despite these repeated medical challenges, she continued to document her life openly, including the ups and downs, the small joys, the deep struggles, and the relationships around her.
Her Influence & Online Presence
Zuza was more than just a patient or a survival story; she was a young influencer who used social media platforms to share what many may consider difficult or taboo: what life looks like for a child fighting cancer. She amassed around 1.8 million followers on Instagram and 1.7 million on TikTok, connections she used to show authenticity and vulnerability.
Zuza was a member of Glow House, a collective of content creators in her generation. This membership connected her with other young creators and friends who shared in her creative projects and supported her through public life.
She used her platform to:
- Share candid updates about her health—what treatments were like, what symptoms were troubling, how she was feeling mentally and physically.
- Highlight the small pleasures in life—tasting favorite foods, different hairstyles, spending time with family and friends—to remind people that even in pain, life has moments of joy.
- Encourage gratitude, authenticity, and presence. She acknowledged that many days were hard, many moments were painful, but she still found reasons to be thankful.
Her last video, posted just a few days before her passing, reflected this: speaking about the everyday things she was grateful for despite her illness, such as the ability to taste delicious food and experiment with hairstyles—things many take for granted.
The Final Days and Passing
In her last weeks, Zuza shared that she was in substantial pain—physically and mentally. Hospital stays, pain management, days when she couldn’t be as active on social media or do everything she’d hoped, all remained a part of her reality.
On September 23, 2025, her family confirmed in a heartfelt social media post that Zuza died on the previous morning. They expressed deeply how much her life had changed those around her, how her resilience and spirit inspired people, and how even in the midst of long suffering, she had lived something full of meaning.
They also shared that they knew Zuza would have wanted donations to go toward helping others: in particular, the family of her recently deceased uncle—his wife and children. This was one of her last wishes, showing how even as she was battling her own illness, she thought of others.
Reactions from Community and Legacy
The response to Zuza’s passing has been overwhelming. Fans, friends, fellow influencers, and many people touched by her story flooded social media with messages of sorrow, admiration, and gratitude for what she shared during her life. Many described heartbreak, many sent prayers and love, many noted how much Zuza had taught them about gratitude, courage, and perspective.
Her close friend Samara from Glow House was repeatedly mentioned in tributes—both for their shared content and their friendship during difficult times.
Her story stands as a testimony to several things:
- The power of openness and authenticity, especially in a world saturated with curated images and edited perfection. Zuza didn’t hide her reality; she shared it.
- Resilience in the face of severe illness, over and over. Five survivals of cancer, multiple bone marrow transplants—that perseverance is rare and remarkable.
- The importance of small joys. Zuza’s final videos remind us that even amid pain, life can still hold sweetness—in tastes, in friendship, in self-expression.
- How youth and illness intersect in the digital age—Zuza used social media both as an outlet for her experiences and a platform to build connection, awareness, and community.
Reflections: What Can We Learn
Zuza Beine’s life and passing raise many reflections:
- On illness and childhood: Fighting a disease like AML from such a young age changes many things—not just physically, but emotionally, socially, psychologically. Zuza bore those changes, but also sought to express what it meant, to live despite them.
- On community and support: Her online community was a source of encouragement, but also an audience to whom she felt accountable. Sharing her journey likely allowed others, especially those in similar situations, to feel less alone.
- On gratitude and perspective: One of the messages Zuza emphasized was being grateful for little things. That’s something many people only remember in the face of tragedy; she reminded us before then.
- On grief: Her death is sudden for many who knew her only virtually or through updates. Grief in the modern age is more public; people share it openly. But there are also private griefs—in family, in friends—that aren’t always visible.
- On legacy: While Zuza is no longer alive, what she shared—her stories, her courage—remain. Her videos, posts, and the people she touched—all of these keep something of her alive.
Concluding Thoughts
Zuza Beine’s story is heartbreaking in its end, but inspiring in the span and depth of the life she lived. Diagnosed at just a toddler, she spent the majority of her life in treatment, fighting, recovering, relapsing, and continuing. And throughout, she refused to let her story be defined only by suffering. She allowed joy, humor, creativity, and gratitude into her life—and shared them generously.
Her passing at just 14 reminds us of the fragility of life. But also, it reminds us how much impact one person can have—influence not measured by numbers alone, but by hearts touched, by courage witnessed, by authenticity lived.
For her family, friends, and the broader community who followed her, Zuza Beine will be remembered not just as a young influencer who died too soon, but as someone who lived with a rare kind of bravery. She showed that even when life is difficult, there is meaning in sharing, in gratitude, in connection—and in striving to be real.
