(NewsNation) — Jessica Pettway, a YouTuber known for beauty and lifestyle content, died in March, according to E! Online.
The 36-year-old had previously said on Instagram that she had stage three cervical cancer, although Pettway wrote doctors had initially misdiagnosed her.
Pettway’s sister had been the one to confirm her death on social media in a now-private post, E! reported. Her sister had said that Pettway was “the most amazing, strong confident woman,” who had “so much wisdom.” Pettway’s obituary says she died on March 11 at a Georgia hospice facility.
On YouTube, Pettway had shared stories about her own life, and also posted videos about hair, makeup and fashion that garnered her tens of thousands of subscribers.
“Being a mom does not have to stop you from being fab!” Pettway had written on her channel. “So stick around as I share beauty, fashion, hair and lifestyle videos all while being a busy mom!”
She was also open about the devastation her stage 3 cervical cancer diagnosis brought her — as well as the painful consequences of being diagnosed incorrectly at first.
Pettway wrote on her Instagram last July that in June 2022, she began experience intense vaginal bleeding, as well as fatigue, weakness “and just not feeling like myself.” After Pettway’s husband found her in the bathroom at 4 a.m., unresponsive and not breathing, she was rushed to the hospital, and told the blood loss was due to fibroids. Fibroids, according to the Mayo Clinic, are common growths on the uterus that are not cancerous.
“My Gyno made it seem like it was so normal and common,” Pettway wrote.
Eventually, she said, the bleeding stopped, but “was replaced with labor-like pains.”
Pettway was hospitalized again on Jan. 7, 2023, after the bleeding came back and would not stop.
“I was told I could not get surgery to remove this ‘fibroid’ due to my lack of blood supply,” she said.
It wasn’t until the next month, when Pettway visited an oncologist and got a biopsy, that she found out the problem was not a fibroid, but cancer.
Being told she had cancer didn’t devastate Pettway, she wrote: It was the reaction of those close to me.
“I knew that God is my healer and that no weapon formed against me, not even cancer, would prosper. I knew that I am more than a conqueror and that I will get through this,” she said.
Fans expressed their condolences on social media, with many talking about the impact Pettway had, and how she inspired them. Some expressed anger at the medical system for repeatedly not giving her the right diagnosis.
Pettway is survived by her daughters, as well as her husband. The couple had met at the mall when they were teens.
“Anytime you’re dealing with an illness, it not only affects you, but it also changes the lives of those closest to you,” Pettway wrote on Instagram in August 2023. “…. Being wheeled into the ambulance and waving bye to my kids, only to see them crying for their mommy to stay home, broke me. And watching my husband break down in tears, was rough.”
Through it all, though, Pettway said her family was there for her.
“But (my husband and I) held on to our vows and the word. We moved forward and did our best not to allow current circumstances to overtake us. It was definitely not easy, but we made it this far!” she wrote at the time.
