Austin Bradshaw is opening up about the life of his late wife, influencer Kaelin Bradshaw, who died Monday, October 27.
“When she does something, she is full-throttle … on being the best of whatever it was she was doing,” Austin told Today.com in an interview published on Friday, October 31, explaining to the outlet that he and his late wife initially believed she could overcome her diagnosis.
Kaelin died nine months after she was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a type of bile cancer. She was 29.
The widower told the outlet that Kaelin’s symptoms began with an abdominal pain she couldn’t resolve. The duo ended up in the emergency room, where they were told she had a torn oblique muscle and a “giant” growth on her liver. Doctors initially weren’t too concerned about the possibility the growth could be cancerous, mostly due to Kaelin’s young age.
Things took a downward turn four months later, when she experienced a pain so bad she couldn’t stand. According to Austin, his late wife went back to the emergency room and was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
“It hit us like a brick wall because that’s not what you plan on hearing when you’re 28,” Austin said. “From there, it was just nine months of fighting our asses off. It’s a lot of fight for a little reward each time. You fight really hard, and then it disappears. You’ve got to take these little wins. It just got to the point where it seemed like the chipping away was getting smaller and smaller, (but) we didn’t stop going.”
The pair also met with specialists in different states, including Florida and New York.
Kaelin Bradshaw Courtesy of Austin Bradshaw/Instagram
“Her name in the oncology field was being spread around probably faster than her name on TikTok,” he said. “The doctors were just so angry that she’s 28 years old, dealing with the cancer that only people in their 50s and 60s usually get.”
Starting her TikTok account was one way she felt she could “help people with similar fights get through whatever struggles they were going through.”
He added: “I don’t think she ever thought that she would obviously be as big as she is.” Kaelin’s account has over 100,000 followers on the platform.
His wife also wanted to be open about what fighting cancer in your 20s is like.
“We were very much hopeful in the outcome, and we wanted to share that truth … whether it’s chemotherapy or (the) initial diagnosis of cancer, and to just teach (others) to stay positive, stay strong and keep moving forward,” Austin explained.
The online community is honoring the lives of several social media influencers who died in 2025. On April 1, nursing influencer Hailey Okula died at age 33 after giving birth to her first child. Husband Matthew Okula shared that his wife died from amniotic fluid embolism and was able to briefly meet their baby before […]
Ultimately, the pair did their best to stay focused on the positive.
“We told ourselves that over and over again: We need to be strong and we need to be positive, even though we are just being dealt the worst parts,” he said. “She was strong, positive and beautiful from the start until the end.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usmagazine.com ’
