TikToker Joules Dies After Rare Brain Tumor at 6 Years Old. Her Death Inspires Phenomenon Across Social Media
Joules Smith’s father Joe confirmed on social media that she died from diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG)
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TikTok creator Joe Smith confirmed that his six-year-old daughter Joules Smith died on Monday, Dec. 9 after she was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor.
“We haven’t been on social media for the last couple weeks [because] we had to spend every single second with our beautiful princess Joules,” Joe shared in the update video and confirmed that “we didn’t leave that little girl’s side,” through her last moments.
Since her diagnosis, the GoFundMe has raised over £96,000, and Joe posted in October that they planned to make videos to raise awareness for childhood cancer. In their videos, Joules and Joe encouraged other users to “dance for Joules” as part of their efforts to shed light on her disease.
“[She] has been an absolute inspiration to everyone, and I’m so proud to be her dad, as is her mom,” he continued in his update video from Dec. 12. “We take so much comfort in knowing she inspired and touched the lives of so many people from around the world.”
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Since her death, Joe’s update video has surpassed 2 million views online and thousands shared their condolences over the loss. The “dancing for Joules” tag also surpassed over 3,000 videos on TikTok, with users dedicating their videos to her and her family.
Joe also confirmed on TikTok on Dec. 15 that Joules’ “send-off” is scheduled for Dec. 27 at The Garden of Eden Crematorium in Kent, England. He encouraged others to join the family and requested everyone to “wear pink and blue for Stitch and Angel colours, but you’re welcome in black.”