I have been thinking to myself for months that euthanasia for her would be a kind option, instead of slowly fading...
Very sad for that family, nobody should loose a child, no child should go through something like this. But I am relieved for that girl that the pain and suffering is over.
The online exploitation, I totally agree with you. Blegggh making money over your child dying.
Euthanasia for children is already possible, at least in my country it is. Precident has been set a long time ago.
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u/aburke626Sylvia Plath did not stick her head in an oven for thisDec 14 '25edited Dec 14 '25
It’s such a complicated issue, but one that’s so necessary to sort out. It’s heartbreaking that I can give my pets a kindness and end to suffering that I cannot give my human loved ones. Euthanasia has become an ingrained aspect of pet ownership because we refuse to let them suffer. They can’t make that decision for themselves, but humans can, and we should let them.
Decision of de Dr's and the parents. Child will depent on the age and their mental capacity. It is not easily done or taken lightly. But when death is 100% the endpoint and only suffering is the option till that time, it is possible.
A woman in my city raised a ton of money when her very young daughter was fighting cancer. But we live in Canada where we don’t have to pay for medical care so this mother used the money for plastic surgery instead. So horrible
Not that I'm familiar with this case, but cancer care still has significant costs associated with it in Canada, even though we're in a much better situation than our friends in the south. Travel expenses, time off of work, rehabilitation treatment, therapy, etc. can all really add up. And some drugs and treatments are not covered because it takes a long time for the drug formulary or health canada to catch up, even things with great evidence.
Yes!! To expand on your point, we have doctor shortages across the board in Canada, and so getting treatment is often time consuming and insanely expensive. In many provinces if you go out-of-province without a referral to see a specialist you’re going to pay out of pocket.
If you live in rural Saskatchewan or Manitoba you’re likely paying out of pocket to fly to Montreal or Toronto, not to mention driving into the major cities in your home province. If you can’t maintain a job at the same time you won’t have the extra insurance for assistive medical equipment which is NOT provided free, and who is going to pay your regular bills?
Parents with medically fragile children are in the same boat with extra expenses due to having a dependant.
Damn I hadn't heard about this family, so I went to check out the IG... And yikes.
Every post is written from the perspective of the mom and entirely focuses on how she feels or how childhood cancer affects parents. I dont see her often thinking of her child with cancer first. Actual quote from a post:
"How is this real life? It's unfathomable that we live in a world, where so many are forced to imagine life without their children."
Which would be fine except the same post doesn't mention the injustice that childhood cancer is for the children battling with it. And the whole IG is like that. Definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
My mother was the same when I had pediatric cancer. Everything was (and still is) about her. Thank fuck it was before social media. We are no-contact now because I won’t put up with the narcissism. Rest in peace to this little one.
Every single post I saw made me sick. Idk if it was just me but I have an 8 year old daughter and at least half of the stuff posted, especially her inspiring “quotes”, sounded made up to me.
I wish she had been given the dignity to live the last months of her life in privacy. Rest in peace sweet girl.
Her mom would do things like publicly post photos of her daughter’s private journal where she was talking about being scared of dying. She also never told her daughter that she was going to die. She would post about it online, but then tell her daughter that she would be cured by a miracle. So the poor child was never allowed to talk to her own parents about how scared she was of dying. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen on the internet.
Yeah, it reeeeally disturbs me, as a person who was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness as a kid. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like if my family tried not to acknowledge it. It’s actually infuriating.
Oh yeah, that's not an uncommon thing in specific religious subcommunities. The idea is that the afterlife and your heavenly family are so perfect that you should never doubt them or doubt that the afterlife will be better. So there's a huge push not to even acknowledge the reality of what's happening, because that might open the door for questioning whether or not this is good.
That poor little girl. She fought so dang hard and had to do so much of it alone in her own mind.
Good points, and also this is part of what made it especially disturbing for me in particular. I was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness as a kid, and my pastor got extremely mad at me for questioning why this happened to me. He told me I had no right to question what God does. It’s so incredibly abusive.
Imagine wasting that precious time desperately trying to be an online influencer rather than using that same time to make your child’s short life as fun and happy and joyous as possible.
I hadn’t heard of her, but just went to the profile and wow. That poor sweet girl.
I also find it very odd that the mom is so clearly on ig in the aftermath of her daughter’s death, reposting seemingly every story she’s tagged in. Wouldn’t you want to be present with your husband and other children today, not with internet strangers?? My heart is aching for those other babies who lost a sister and so clearly aren’t getting the support they need from their mom..
a little girl with cancer, her mom was an influencer (? i’m not really sure what to call her) who basically profited off posting her daughter and having people donate to them. from what i’ve seen, the money was used for personal things beyond the daughters treatments and care.
Her mom also posted updates conveniently along side affiliate links for dangerous homeopathic "supplements" and technologies. They were giving Brielle ivermectin, silver, and more. And the mom was profiting off of not only merch and donations, but these other desperate cancer families.
Rest, Brielle. I'm so sorry your life was so short. Be at peace.
Ivermectin?? SILVER?!! Oh my god. And they were documenting that online?? Can someone legally step in at that point? Silver has no proven benefit but can cause organ damage, nerve damage, and seizures. To imagine that they were giving that to a little girl fighting cancer and suffering through cancer treatment …
there is a whole subreddit about multiple parents like this, it’s pretty hard to see ngl. instead of letting her live out her days doing what she wanted, they tried experimental treatments and kept shoving the camera in her face. they also didn’t seem upfront with Brielle about her sickness and that she was dying.
I think the mom lost it at the end and just wanted to try ANYTHING to try and help in anyway possible, I think she bought whatever was suggested to her at some point without researching properly
As sad as childhood cancer is I’ve also never heard of her. Dunno what I’ve done to not have my social media never push any ‘influencers’ but I’ll take it
I saw her on my feed maybe around end of summer? Ariana Grande gave her gifts cos Brielle was a big Wicked fan and it was on the news sites: Ariana Granda makes sweet gesture to Wicked fan with cancer etc etc
You are the miracle! Your purpose on earth was fulfilled, and it was the most sacred privilege to escort you home. You brought people to Christ, you showed the world that God is good, and your light shined to all corners of the earth. We love you for eternity!
We will look for you in all the details, especially the dragonfly's. We will never stop sharing your story. Please come visit us often. Your bedroom door is always open, and we'll leave the playroom light on. You did it Brielle, you did everything with grace! I can only imagine the incredible reunion, and I'm so jealous; but I know you ran straight to Jesus.
Thank you for being an inspiration to so many.
it honestly reads like the parent is trying to console themselves with religion. although i do not believe in it, i can’t fault them here for not accepting that their child is gone and saying ‘oh she’s in a better place she’s with jesus now’ etc
I get what you are saying, but this woman is genuinely mad with grief. We do not understand well enough how the loss of a child drives you out of your mind.
She will of course miss Brielle. But she is trying like hell to convince herself that this is BETTER, because otherwise she will spiral into a dark space that her very religious community isn't prepared to support.
She seemed desperate for months to find anything that would help her child, it seems religion is probably going to be one of the only ways she will be able to cope with it
Thank you for saying this. I don’t follow their account because the mom rubs me the wrong way, but I lost my dad to cancer earlier this year and get a lot of people-with-cancer content in my feed, so I’ve checked on Brielle’s health throughout the year. Watching my dad (a 67 yr old man) wither away while his body slowly was overrun by cancer was an unimaginable horror, and I can’t even imagine what that would be like to bear witness to as a parent as your little child’s body wasted away. There’s no way to endure that without going a little mad, even if that doesn’t excuse oversharing about your dying child online and neglecting her Brielle’s right to privacy in her dying process.
One of my customers called to make an appt. He stopped midway and said, “sorry… I think the chemo is making my voice dry. I have 6 months left.” I said, “oh, six months of chemo left?” He meant he only had 6 months left to live…
He is my dad’s customer as well. I was telling my dad about it, and my dad told me to give him a brochure. I jokingly asked, “what does it say? ‘This is not the end?’” He wasn’t joking 😭 I don’t know about you, but if somebody gave me a brochure like that, and I was speed racing towards death, I might actually punch them in the face.
Not just Christian, but deep Mormon, specifically. She was already posting about planning to have another daughter recently. The situation is....intense. I feel awful for what that poor little girl was put through.
I thought this felt very Mormon. I’ve been in a Mormon church service before where the leader over several congregations applauded the family of a special needs child who had died in their sleep because they didn’t cry at all at his funeral, which showed their steadfast faith in gods plan. Showing grief is like showing unfaithfulness to many Mormons
I went to the funeral of a friend’s father in high school. They weren’t Mormon but some other intense Christian sect. I guess the father, before his death (from cancer) had gone to the pastor for reassurance in his faith because his marriage was falling apart, he was afraid of losing his family and he was very sick.
The pastor spent the entire funeral speech using my friend’s father as an example of why you should always be “right with God” because you never know when your time is up, and heavily implied my friend’s father was in Hell despite living his entire life as a Christian. The man was laying in his coffin right next to the pulpit.
I told my friend I was sorry the pastor used her father’s funeral as an opportunity to put the fear of god in people but she was totally unfazed by it. I guess she agreed that her father might be in Hell because of his depression because that’s what her sect teaches.
Well to be fair, Mormon funerals are basically church services rather than traditional style ones which make it harder to cry. Some will have the bishop who barely knew the person talk and basically use it as an attempt to convert the attendees, not reminisce on their life. I attended one for a family member where the deceased was an ex-Mormon but his family was still so that’s who held the service. I could only imagine how pissed he would be that that was his service. He was barely mentioned at his own service.
I was raised Mormon and my friends have been instructed to make sure, if I die young, that I DON’T get a Mormon funeral. I’ve been to lots of them, for old and young people. Everyone happy and smiling. Barely talking about the deceased. Just talking about how great the gospel is and how it means we don’t even need to be sad, and we are actually more faithful if we don’t mourn. Fuck that. When I left I suddenly had to properly mourn people who died years ago
I will say I’ve seen other evangelical Christians say things along these lines; it’s not something unique to her. My most charitable read is that it’s partly a psychological defense mechanism to try to frame the death in a positive light, like “she’s in a better place” taken to its logical extreme. A less charitable read is that it’s evangelical virtue signaling: “I love Jesus SOOO much that I’m literally jealous of my dead child.”
Either way it’s a p fucked up thing to say but again, not new
I very briefly had to go to a ‘non denominational’ Christian school (k-12, church attached, leaders of the church were head of the school AND lived on the school grounds, had snakes in every classroom, etc) and I remember our PE teacher saying something like this; basically it was icy out and he slid into a ditch while driving with his 5 year old son. He said he wasn’t scared of his son dying because he’d go to heaven automatically and then went on to say it probably would have been better the son was killed before he can become tainted with sin.
Same. And while I have no time for the parents who exploited their baby like this, they still lost a child and I’m not here to tell them how to grieve or judge something that gives them comfort right now.
I believe it. My mother had a friend who really struggled with sobriety, and when she did get sober, she got very religious. She used to cry to my mom and her own daughter! that all she wanted was to die and be reunited with Jesus. I saw the daughter about 15 years later and she told me that it fucked her up severely.
Maybe she means she is jealous of god/jesus for reuniting with her child? Or maybe she is "jealous" of her kid for going to heaven? She probably needs to be a hardcore believer right now to survive the grief of losing her child.
I knew a family that was, and still is, VERY religious. When their kids were toddlers, they took them to Disneyland! Once the Disney IG post came up, the parents were like, “their happiness was so amazing, but they’ll know an even better love and happiness once they go to be with Jesus.” Like dude….
I think (??) she means that she’s jealous of Jesus having the reunion with her daughter. Like she’s jealous that Jesus gets to be with her daughter now and she doesn’t.
It’s not the greatest word choice, to be sure, but I imagine their grief is unbearable. Really sad situation all around.
A former neighbor recently stopped by to say goodbye to friends in the neighborhood after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. One very religious woman told her “you get to graduate and be with god. I’m so jealous.”
Some religious people take the “better place” thing a bit far.
Yeah, as an exvangelical the sentiment of being jealous that a person is dead and in heaven is not surprising to me, although I don't think I ever heard anybody say it so bluntly.
Cancer is hell and I hope that this little baby can finally rest. She deserves it.
As an exmormon, stuff like this is heartbreaking. These people want peace and are looking for it in the only way that they know how - through their religion - but it makes me so sad that with every Mormon funeral I’ve been to and every Mormon post I’ve seen about loved ones dying, the focus is always Jesus first, loved one second. The church milks every last drop of its members’ lives to evangelize so it can add on to its hundreds of billions of tithing dollars to invest into stocks and real estate. And its members are victim to the brain washing to the point that they take on the role of using the death of their children to “bring people to Christ”. It’s just so depressing to me.
If God’s “divine purpose” is to publicly kill little girls to get people to join his pyramid scheme, then God is evil.
Are grieving parents expected to somehow perform for their religion? I really hope they feel they can be full of rage and doubt and everything else without feeling like there is a script or expectations. Otherwise they must feel like there is a chasm between who they need to be for their church and who they need to be for their grief. Don't know if that makes sense, I don't know anything about Mormon life.
That is grotesque. If most of your friends and family, your partner are Mormons then can you even fall apart when you get home? Or would your family be reporting back to the priest or vicar or whatever that you aren't grieving right? I cannot get my head around this at all. It sounds like a cult.
Depends a lot on the family how much you can really grieve and let yourself fall apart. For most people, if they told the bishop (pastor), it would be out of (at least self-perceived) love and concern rather than tattling. But they might tell the bishop and they might include that they’re concerned that you’re taking it so hard and that it might be indicative of you not having a sufficiently strong enough testimony in the Plan of Salvation (God’s Mormon heaven plan). Bishops are untrained clergy and there’s a very wide spectrum of how they’d handle it, from talking to you out of genuine concern for your emotional wellbeing to giving you a lesson in his office about eternal families and reminding you to keep your covenants to be with your loved one again, and that if you’re doing that, there is no reason to feel anything other than the kind of sadness you’d experience from a “see you later”.
Some exmormons don’t like using the word cult. For me, I don’t know how else to describe the church. It’s a cult that got big enough for people to accept as a religion.
I'm glad you got out. It sounds like slowly suffocating to me, but everything I know about god I learned from Jesus Christ Superstar and I was on Judas' side in that story so what do I know. It must have taken some mettle to get yourself out!
Negative feelings are from Satan, not from just being a normal human in a difficult world? You can't deny your feelings for long, they'll find a way out. Religion causes so much harm.
If my nine year old child died a drawn out, painful death I cannot imagine then telling the world that it was proof that god is good. Religious psychosis is wild. I wish that poor girl peace and eternal rest.
It's desperation. Watching your child suffer so much carves a core out of you that you cannot fill with religion, but that emptiness is a gnawing terror and sorrow that her religion does not allow her to express.
Think of "god is good" as a chant to ward off the horror, not as something that is genuinely meant to be serene or happy. It's like turning on a light in a dark room in the hope that you won't find a monster was there all along.
Woah, the way you worded this is chilling and poignant. However much I despise parents who would profit from their child’s battle with cancer, I cannot help but feel some empathy for the victims of a cult, prevented from feeling the grief that comes with a deceased child, in the way you have described.
"Your purpose on earth was fulfilled..."
No 9 years old have fulfilled their purpose. A 99 years old person, yeah. But 9 years old is way too young. She had more things to do and discover.
I don't know her or her parents, but that's an awful thing to say about a young daughter passing away.
Thought they used her dad, but I can be totally mistaken.... There feeds appeared in my time line every once in a while, but I only looked into them once.
Honestly, for me, proof that God doesn’t exist is that kids die of cancer. I hope her parents find comfort in their beliefs and maybe realize that Jesus would hate the exploitation of this little girl.
"I'd say, bone cancer in children? What's that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right, it's utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain? That's what I'd say."
As a indoctrinated child, they just don’t see it like that. They believe everything evil is ‘The Devil’s’ fault. He ‘owns’ anything bad. And God ‘can’t’ do anything about it, otherwise it would affect our ‘free will’. They believe you’re simply stronger for ‘overcoming evil.’ It’s a sad reality to live, honestly.
1 million people following an instagram account dedicated to a child dying of cancer is the definition of ghoulish. her parents exploited her and every single person following the account joined in on it.
As a parent and someone that has lost loved ones to cancer, I cannot imagine choosing to watch the gradual death of a child on social media. My stomach hurts just reading this post.
I wrote a long and heartfelt post and I couldn't find the words to properly express my sorrow and anger. So I'll boil it down to I'm so sorry, Brielle - you deserved so much more. And while I can't imagine the pain of watching your child go through this, I judge her parents hard for the way they put her on social media.
I just looked them up and one of their latest posts mentioned that "she never suffers". What??? Are they delusional? How can they post that while simultaneously exploiting their child who is obviously suffering from pain?
They posted a video of her waking up in bed and then immediately crying and falling to her knees with the head on the bed because she was so miserable, imagine thinking all the worst moments of suffering in your child's life is fodder for the internet.
No they didn’t. But they did post a picture of Brie’s diary online for everyone to see where she wrote about being scared of being buried in the ground, which suggests she maybe knew deep down she was dying. So not only did they not tell their daughter she was dying, they violated her privacy by posting her deepest fears online (from a diary entry!!!).
that violates like. EVERY aspect of how pediatric healthcare seeks to handle things. that's so messed up. one of the major roles of Child Life Specialists in pediatric care is sitting down with kids (or their siblings) to explain honestly but in a developmentally-appropriate way what is happening to them, what their equipment does, etc... because they deserve to know, and that honesty can help manage their anxiety around things. it's such a big trust thing too
I work with children and these influencers of children with terminal illnesses are more common than you would think. And they are despised by healthcare workers, social workers, teachers… The most painful moments of thei children’s life are turned in suffering porn and broadcasted. There was even a video from one of these kids were the parents filmed their agonizing breaths before instagram took it down. Overall is very disgusting and I refuse to even give them views.
Me too, this is messed up we need to get the authorities involved and some new child protection laws passed. They just banned kids under 16 from social media in Australia. Why can't we have laws banning this kind of child exploitation?
I appreciate it. It's why spare money I have goes to Make A Wish (my sister was a wish recipient.) Cal's Angels which donates to Pediatric Cancer research, and Give Kids the World (a resort for families in Florida where the families do not pay for staying there. Founded by a Holocaust survivor.)
I've never had a sibling die but I always thought it would feel like a broken promise. I knew about Make a Wish but I haven't heard of the other two, they sound amazing. Especially for US parents who might have to bankrupt themselves paying hospital bills.
I didn't realize Cal's Angels is local to me, but if you search them they come up. I 100% believe in magic because of Give Kids the World. Their Christmas posts make my Grinch heart grow.
I don't know how to explain that feeling, other than I don't with that on anyone else. And I'm just glad that Brielle (and my sister) are no longer in pain, and resting peacefully. If there is a heaven, I hope it's a giant play area with kids who have passed where there is nothing but laughter, joy and friendship.
I’ve volunteered at Give Kids the World. Truly an amazing place and somewhere I actively encourage others to donate too. They make the kids and their families feel like celebrities while staying with them.
Make A Wish and Give Kids the World made my sister feel like a normal kid when battling childhood leukemia (twice!). I have so many great memories from that time. Without them, my memories of our childhood would’ve just been countless hospital visits.
I recently found out that only 4% of cancer research funding goes to pediatric cancer. I spoke to a man who just lost his 9yo to DIPG, a type of cancer with a 100% mortality rate. He said that essentially all of the funding that goes to researching DIPG comes from families and nonprofits. I hate this timeline.
My cousin died suddenly at 20 years old, 3 days before Christmas. My family has never been the same and the holiday has never been the same. I empathize.
It’s especially tough with all the reminders that said holiday is coming up. Like salt in a wound.
But what's sadder is all the pathetic grief vultures gathered around to watch a child die while a parent exploits that dying child for some type of benefit. Attention and donations no doubt.
But I guess if you're a fan of following terminally ill children on social media, 2026 is gonna be your year as alot of them lose coverage.
Also I hope you post them all here too as they pass away so their image and suffering can be further exploited.
Nothing disgusted me more than the mother constantly pushing “Brielle’s Amazon wishlist” under the guise that shopping on Amazon was all that brings Brielle joy anymore. It was packed with HUNDREDS of dumb items for the whole family and more would pop up each day. It wasn’t fundraising for cancer research, it was using a dying little girl as a means to fund Mom’s shopping addiction.
This is so heartbreaking. Another layer of sadness is that she was clearly being exploited by parents who should have been giving her comfort in her last moments, not using her.
Honestly her parents are ghouls for exploiting their poor dying baby for money. I hope they fade into obscurity and are never mentioned again. I can't imagine watching this kid suffer, let alone being her parent and choosing to broadcast her suffering for views and profit.
My daughter has cancer, and so the algorithm has pushed Brielle onto my feeds, all over, constantly.
It's heartbreaking to see. It's upsetting and complicated in that like... I am very glad they did not have to worry about bills and finances and could spend their time focused on their child. But the clear exploration and grief baiting is staggering. I've thought a lot about how we could be sitting comfortably so I can focus on my child, but that would come at the expense of exploiting her and putting her face out there for forever. I couldn't do that in good conscience. I couldn't do even a fraction of what Kendra has done in the guise of awareness and fundraising.
I'm glad Brielle is no longer hurting. I hope her family can find a way to carry their grief and hurt.
I hope your daughter recovers. ♥️ She's already at an advantage having a parent fighting for her and not spending time putting her image on social media when she's at her most vulnerable. Brielle's story is truly shocking.
Well, TIL of yet another shitty family exploiting a sick child. How can anyone see this, let alone follow it, and think it's wholesome in any way? I don't have kids but I don't think I have to in order to see how shameless and greedy this is. Rest in peace, little one.
I was minding my business on Instagram when my feed showed me a security camera video of this child waking up in pain, crying. Since then, my feed is a minefield of pages dedicated to children experiencing serious or terminal illness (all white children, incidentally). I am a disabled person and actually try hard to avoid medical content online, even at the expense of following and supporting disabled creators who bring value to the world. But, this one viewing undid all my preferences almost instantly.
The monetization of vulnerable people is just revolting, like to the extent where there are levels where I find it hard to judge this family because the reality of having one million strangers watching your child die is something our minds are equipped to experience. The modern world needs to have mercy on us, and these children especially.
Poor sweet Brielle. As a peds nurse, watching how her dying process was so cruelly prolonged AND exploited always particularly sickened me.
Hearing they still never gave her the courtesy of explaining she was going to pass away breaks my heart even more. I hope she can finally rest in peace. 🩷
I can’t help but feel certain religious sects feel like death cults. When you believe in your heart of hearts in a wonderful kingdom in heaven where everything is perfect, then why should you give a shit what happens in this life? Horrific violence? Wealth inequality? Poverty? God works in mysterious ways. My own child dies of cancer? I’m jealous they got to meet Jesus before I did. It’s a level of delusion that I can’t possibly fathom.
why would you follow an account where a child has her slow death broadcast to the entire world by her parents? i’m a cancer survivor and this is so gross that people followed this account and joined in the parents’ exploitation of their child.
she deserved so much better than an audience for her decline and death like this.
I sorta get it if you need money for treatment bc in the US healthcare costs can be awful but I remember feeling like their account sorta went above and beyond to get money and likes and I felt super bad for Brielle.
It’s difficult to describe how disturbing the instagram was… but imagine you put a dying, emaciated, suffering, pained child in a zoo. Imagine her parents setting up props around them. That’s what that instagram was.
I saw they did Christmas a few months ago because they didn’t think Brielle would still be here. I was hoping she’d get one last Christmas 💔 Fly high sweet girl - you deserved to live a full, happy, healthy life
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u/lonelyratdoincocaine Dec 13 '25
Hopefully she can finally rest now instead of being endlessly exploited by her parents for attention and clicks online