A 21-year-old TikTok star has died from colon cancer after she announced to her followers earlier this month that she was given weeks to live by her doctor.
Dominique McShain’s death was confirmed by PEOPLE on Wednesday, a year after the New Zealand-based influencer revealed she had been diagnosed with incurable colorectal cancer last April.
The exact date of her death is still unknown.
McShain wrote a heartbreaking Instagram post to her followers on April 6, sharing that she would no longer be posting content as she neared the end of her life.
“I want to be direct with you all: this will be my final update on my cancer journey until I have passed away,” she wrote. “I’ve recently been given a prognosis about five days ago of only a few days to a few weeks to live.”
She shared that her liver was “failing rapidly,” which caused her cancer to spread and made it impossible to receive treatments, including the chemotherapy she had been on for the last 7 months.
“At this point, I’ve transitioned into end-of-life care, focusing on pain relief and managing side effects, with so much time spent in both the hospital and hospice facilities,” McShain shared.
The TikToker said that, although her life may be short, she “genuinely” felt she had “squeezed every bit out of it.”
“I won the lottery with a family that loves me unconditionally, friends who would 10000% donate a liver to me or do anything they could (and probably argue over who gets to do it), and the sweetest husband, Sean, who’s been my rock through everything – before and after my diagnosis,” McShain wrote.
The social media star got engaged to her boyfriend Sean Suson in May 2024, on McShain’s 21st birthday, and months after her cancer diagnosis. The couple tied the knot that July.
“Of course, there are so many key adult moments I won’t get to experience, things I won’t get to be or have, and that’s something I’ve had to come to terms with,” McShain wrote in her April 6 post.
“The grief of what I’m missing out on is no longer overwhelming, though. Recently, I’ve found a sense of acceptance.”
The TikTokker told her followers that all the bad news she’s received from the doctors over the last year has “desensitized” her to “the pain,” but also allowed her to find “peace” with her situation.
“Recently, I’ve been picturing Heaven often — a place where l’ll finally be free from the pain that’s been with me for so long. I imagine myself without the constant suffering, no longer needing medication just to survive the day,” she wrote.
“I’ll be able to run, to breathe, to feel whole. Though it will hurt to leave you all behind, please know that I will finally be out of pain, and I will be at peace.”
McShain concluded her post by expressing her gratitude to her loved ones and followers for being in her life.
The 21-year-old content creator had built her following of over 200,000 followers across social media by spreading awareness of symptoms she was experiencing during her battle with colon cancer.
In her first video on TikTok in May 2024, McShain shared how the cancer ended her college career before she could graduate.
“I was, until two weeks ago, a third-year psychology student, and I wanted to do clinical psychology eventually. And that would take another five years to study for,” McShain said in the video, which garnered more than 5.5 million views.”Basically, I stopped work and uni because I have such severe cancer, and the treatment is so intense.”
She also said she wanted to raise awareness about her illness.
“I wanted to make a difference somehow and leave something behind and hopefully help people,” McShain said.
“I know that cancer is getting a lot more common in the colon for younger people, so I really wanted to eventually share my symptoms and raise awareness.”
In 2020, there were over 1.9 million new cases of colon cancer recorded worldwide, and more than 930,000 people lost their lives to this disease, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Australia, New Zealand, and Europe had the highest rates of being diagnosed with colon cancer.
In the US, it is estimated that there will be more than 107,000 new cases of colon cancer by the end of 2025 — with more than 54,000 being diagnosed in men and more than 52,000 in females, according to the American Cancer Society.
From 2012 to 2021, the rates among individuals under 50 years old have risen steadily, showing an alarming increase of 2.4% per year.