Tiffany Cheung, Hong Kong YouTuber who shared journey fighting cancer, dies at 32

Cheung was first diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 27. Despite electrotherapy and chemotherapy, the cancer cells in Cheung’s body spread quickly over two years.

In early 2021, Cheung was told she only had a few months left unless she undertook more strenuous therapies. That treatment would extend her life by a year, but she would lose her appetite and energy, she said.

She chose ultimately to maintain her quality life and live with the condition, turning instead to Chinese medicine and natural therapy.

“If my disease could not be cured at all, why should I spend a whole year living a life of low quality, and not enjoy the last few months alive?” she said in her first YouTube video in September 2021, which was filmed after she outlived her doctor’s prediction.

Cheung said she went down the YouTube path to document the last moments of her life, out of a simple wish to share positive energy and encourage others.

“I was very lucky. I lived like a normal person for the past seven months. I played sports, went hiking, did what I like, and I even went to work … I enjoyed every day of my life. Another day alive, another day of victory,” she said.

Cheung has since made 21 videos to share her journey of undergoing therapy and enjoying the last days of her life – going to the gym, going to work, travelling abroad, and celebrating Christmas and birthdays.

She inspired many of her followers and was widely interviewed by local media.

Some highlights included her living funeral that was featured in a ViuTV programme two years ago, in which she documented the key moments of her life in an exhibition, hoping to help her friends and family cope with the loss.

In 2023, she travelled 17 times, half of which for was therapy and the rest for holidays.

Hong Kong girl Chau Tin-yu left in vegetative state 4 years ago dies

In one trip to Chiang Mai with a few terminally ill cancer patients and survivors, she had to endure chronic pain that impacted her mobility and left her relying on a walking stick or wheelchair.

That story was documented on a YouTube programme and was widely-circulated online.

She last updated her social media on January 1, recapping the challenging year of 2023 during which she underwent one surgery, 10 sessions of electrotherapy, six chemotherapy sessions, six immunotherapy sessions, and many more check-ups.

“I finally made it to 2024, battered and bruised, and at a pace of ‘three steps forward then four steps back’,” she wrote.

Chan Kiu, veteran Hong Kong photojournalist for the Post, dies at 96

In her last YouTube video released in November 2023, she said her cancer cells had spread further and she struggled to cope with the electrotherapy necessary to control the spread. “I am in the worst shape in four years,” she said.

She then flew to the US for a new therapy, after her condition stabilised briefly.

“The pain is slowly going away and I feel more strength when I walk, but I get tired easily … I need to build up my strength and practise walking again slowly,” she said.

“It’s been just a short while since I last went through this whole process. Cancer patients can only prepare for the worst and hope for the best ... all I can do is face it positively.”