Talia Joy Castellano, the teenage video beauty blogger passed away on Wednesday morning. Her older sister Mattia published a final post announcing her death on the 13-year old's incredibly popular YouTube channel.
Diagnosed at seven with stage four neuroblastoma and last year with leukemia, she began posting in July 2011 and had picked up almost a million subscribers since then.
Proclaiming "make-up is my wig" and wearing her chemotherapy induced baldness like a badge, Talia mixed it up with make-up tutorials, nail art, hairstyles, random topical posts and tear-inducing video logs about dealing with two aggressive cancers and life in and out of hospitals.
Her personality transformed from that of a hesitant child to a cheery, charming and outrageously funny teenager.
Her channel got so popular that Ellen Degeneres invited Talia onto her talk show.
When Degeneres asked Talia how she stays positive despite the doctors and the disease, she referenced the animated flick Finding Nemo.
"A little fishy told me to ‘just keep swimming'," she replied.
Earlier this year, cosmetic brand Covergirl made her an honorary spokesperson.In an interview with The Truth 365, an organisation that aims to educate the world about childhood cancer through social media, Talia tells them she wants to be "remembered as the bubbly girl who wanted to do something about childhood cancer."
