TikTok star Maddy Baloy, who documented her stage 4 cancer journey, dies at 26
Maddy Baloy, a TikTok star who shared her journey living with terminal stage 4 cancer online and inspired followers by achieving goals on her bucket list, has died, her family said Friday.
Baloy was candid with her over 450,000 followers about her diagnosis and her struggles along the way.
She also shared videos showing her achieving longtime dreams of hers, including meeting celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, being on stage in a DJ booth at a music festival and summiting Camelback Mountain in Arizona.
Her parents and fiancé were present when she passed away early on Thursday, according to the family.
Baloy’s fiancé, Louis Risher, told NBC News Friday: “Madison has been my person for eight years. We did everything together.
She was the most special person I’ve ever met.”
“One thing about Maddy is that she’s genuinely hilarious. Her intelligent humor could make anyone laugh and light up a room.
She was so caring, compassionate, and loved living life on the edge, always seeking adventure,” Risher said.
He said Baloy loved traveling and going to Disney every chance they could.
“She’s touched millions of people through her cancer journey and taught me what it means to truly love. She stayed so strong through everything that life threw at her and is now at peace and will always be my angel,” Risher added.
“Madison was much like her mom and would light up the room whenever she came in,” her father, Lucky Talmage, said.
“Regardless of whether you knew Madison for five minutes or five years, she created a special bond with people that she encountered. She was truly special to us.”
“Cancer really has the ability to break you wide open and it definitely leaves a lot to be revealed.
One of the things that it revealed about Madison was not only her strong will and ability to push through the most severe pain again and again, but it really reflected on just her character,” her mother, Carissa Talmage, said.
“She continued to use her comedy, her ability to joke to get through some of the most horrifying events that any parent should ever have to watch their child go through.”
“Even when she was getting sick, nothing would stay down, her body was rejecting everything—food, water—she still couldn’t help but try to make everybody else around her feel comforted and safe,” she added.
“Despite what she was going through, to give you a smile, to give you a feeling of belonging and being safe with her around.”
