Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson is mourning the death of her oldest sister, Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell.
“This is one post I wish I didn’t have to make 💔,” Thompson, 18, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, December 10. “Last night we all surrounded Anna with love & let her know it was OK to go. Unfortunately, around 11pm Anna took her last breath.”
She continued: “Anna was in so much pain last night but now, as a family, we all know she is at peace now. I really don’t know what to say as my heart is completely broken. Watching my 29-year-old sister this last year battle this horrible disease hasn’t been easy. Anna was a fighter & still is.”
The sisters’ mother, Mama June Shannon, announced earlier on Sunday that Cardwell had died at the age of 29. Cardwell, who had been battling stage IV cancer, is survived by her two daughters, her mother and her siblings. (Mama June, 44, shared Cardwell and Jessica Shannon, 27, with David Dunn, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird, 23, with Michael Anthony Ford and Alana with Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson.)
Alana, for her part, is particularly saddened for nieces Kaitlyn and Kaylee. (Anna shared Kaylee, 8, with ex-husband Michael Cardwell, while the biological father of Kaitlyn, 11, has never been publicly revealed.)
“Lord please wrap your arms around her 2 babies & our family as the next couple of days will make this all a reality,” the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo alum added in her Sunday tribute before addressing her sister directly. “I’m so glad that you waited til I was home to take your last breath! I would’ve loved for you to get to see me graduate college but I know you will forever cheer me on in heaven!”
Alana added: “We will all make sure your legacy lives on forever. And I promise to always make sure to celebrate our birthday like you never left! The sky looks a little bit different today. We will always love you, Anna. You hit me hard with this one, Anna, but I know your [sic] in a better place now and pain-free forever!”
Anna was diagnosed with adrenal carcinoma in January, going through multiple rounds of chemotherapy treatment.
“This round of chemo has been kind of different,” Mama June exclusively told Us Weekly in May. “She’s sleeping more. It was kind of rough, this round. I can just imagine, like, if I’m feeling that way as her mom, how she’s feeling that her way as a person who is having to live with it day in, day out.”
By July, Anna’s cancer was terminal.
