TikTok Mom Haley Odlozil, Who Shared Life amid Terminal Cancer, Dead at 30: ‘Unbelievable Sadness’
Taylor and Haley Odlozil documented their family of three's life amid her terminal ovarian cancer, with which she was diagnosed in late 2015
The TikTok community is mourning the death of Haley Odlozil.
Haley, 30, who along with husband Taylor Odlozil, shared her life as a mom following her Stage IIIC ovarian cancer diagnosis, has died, Taylor shared on Instagram Friday.
“It is with unbelievable sadness that I tell all of you my sweet Haley has passed away. I cannot begin to describe the amount of heartache & grief myself & our entire family is experiencing,” Taylor began a lengthy statement, posted alongside a family photo with the couple’s 4-year-old son Weston.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Haley-Odlozil-dead-tout-071423-2f789cbdeb6f4a98a5d53e47cfe8b282.jpg)
“I never knew my heart could physically hurt. I’ve never seen someone fight so hard to live. Her love for me, Weston, her family, & her friends is what has kept her going for so many years, especially the last 8 months. I’m so blessed to have had Haley a part of my life for 16 years. It has been my true honor to take care of her,” he continued.
Xem bài viết này trên Instagram
Taylor continued, “I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned from Haley. As the husband I have seen every moment. The happy ones & the sad ones. One thing I can tell you, she suffered greatly fighting this disease that slowly tore her body apart for the last 8 years. The thought of her being completely healed in a body with no pain & no scars in heaven makes me so incredibly happy for her but so overwhelmingly sad I’m not there to see it. My fear of death is so much less knowing I will get to see her one day completely healed. I cannot wait for that day.”
Of their family life, Taylor added, “I’m so thankful I got to see Haley fulfill her life purpose of becoming a mom. She was an incredible mother. My heart breaks most for Weston. I don’t think he will ever fully understand what he meant to Haley. He was everything to her. I love you, Haley. More than I can put into words. You are a part of who I am and I will never stop loving you. I can’t wait to see you again.”
Taylor went on to thank the online community that shared “so much support & prayers for so long” for their family.
“Because of who Haley is, her story has exploded across the world. I’ve received emails & messages from people from just about every country. She has changed so many people & brought awareness to this terrible disease. I’m so proud of that. She always said she didn’t want her suffering to be wasted. Haley wanted people to learn from her. I would say she accomplished that!”
In the conclusion of his statement, Taylor added that he and Weston will be taking an indefinite break from social media, noting, “I need some time to process with my son.”
Xem bài viết này trên Instagram
The couple started documenting their final months together in October, they told PEOPLE exclusively in June.
“In October, we found out that we were running out of options and were going to have to let everything happen naturally. Over the next few weeks, I made a video showing memories of things we’ve done together and posted it on Thanksgiving Day,” Taylor explained at the time.
The couple’s beautiful story went viral quickly. High school sweethearts since 2008, Taylor and Haley received news of her diagnosis in late 2015, just weeks before their wedding. Four years later, they’d welcome son Weston via surrogate.
“I had maybe 50 followers before I posted on Thanksgiving Day, and within a couple of hours, it went absolutely viral and people started following like crazy. So I started posting more, and it snowballed into what it is today,” he said.
Xem bài viết này trên Instagram
Haley shared her gratitude that her story has brought more awareness to what ovarian cancer can do and how it can impact young women.
“The symptoms are very vague — cramping, back pain, all things that women experience on a daily basis for many different reasons. So to have the platform to share and raise awareness of it, that’s very important to me,” she told PEOPLE. “I want people to see that this is a real disease, and this happens to young women. Had I been listened to more, maybe it wouldn’t have escalated to what it was by the time I got diagnosed.”
“Taylor has always said to me, ‘I’m not gonna let your pain and your suffering be for nothing.’ And so he’s created this platform for us that we’ve been able to share awareness and make a difference,” she continued.
“If I can have a bad day and if I’m going through what I’m going through regardless, I might as well let him video it and show it and create an impact and make a difference. If I could help someone or convince someone to go to the doctor, that was all worth it for us.”
Xem bài viết này trên Instagram
Not only did the videos help build community and support while raising awareness, but they will also serve as a time capsule for Weston as he gets older.
“My biggest thing that I have always wanted from the get-go is that I never want him to think that I left by choice,” Haley told PEOPLE. “I want him to know how hard I tried to stay here to be with them. I want him to know how hard and how much I love him and his daddy, and that I tried to do everything I possibly could with the time that I had, to make sure that we made memories.”
Xem bài viết này trên Instagram
If there’s one takeaway from her videos and her story that Haley hoped her followers walk away with, it’s, “Do not take your life for granted.”
“Always have perspective. Everything in life is about perspective. And whether you’re sitting in traffic, whether it’s raining, there’s something good in every day,” she noted. “Instead of being mad it’s raining, roll down your windows, smell the freshly rained-on grass. There’s something good in every day.”
“Always be thankful for where there are good things. Don’t focus on the bad things.”
