Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, of the popular reality TV series Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, died on Saturday. She was 29.
Cardwell died nearly a year after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 adrenal carcinoma.
Several members of Cardwell’s family announced news of her death on social media the following day.
On Instagram, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson shared an image of her family posed together during a recent photoshoot. Cardwell is seen sitting with short hair and glasses and wearing a set of matching striped pyjamas.
“Anna was in so much pain last night but now as a family we all know she is at peace now,” Thompson, 18, wrote. “I really don’t know what to say as my heart is completely broken.”
Cardwell died at her mother “Mama June” Shannon’s home, around 11 p.m. on Saturday while surrounded by her loved ones, the family said.
“Watching my 29 year old sister this last year battle this horrible disease hasn’t been easy,” Thompson continued, referring to Cardwell’s cancer diagnosis. “Anna was a fighter & still is.”
Thompson said she was grateful to be with her sister at the end of her life, but wished Cardwell had been able to see her graduate college in the coming years.
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“The sky looks a little bit different today. We will always love you Anna,” Thompson wrote.
She concluded by writing Cardwell was now “in a better place now and pain free forever!”
On TikTok, both Shannon and Thompson also posted video statements.
For her part, Shannon, 44, said she “hates that she’s even making this post.”
Speaking to her followers, Shannon said Cardwell “would not have it any other way than for me to come on social media and let ya’ll know that that b—ch gave one hell of a goddamn fight for 10 f—ing months.”
Shannon said Cardwell “won her battle” in the end because she is now no longer suffering.
Shannon said she was glad Cardwell felt “comfortable” to live in her home for the last three weeks of her life. She became emotional toward the end of her video and asked her followers for continued prayers for the family as they grieve Cardwell’s death.
In Thompson’s video, she said knew people would be asking about her sister. She described Cardwell’s death as “surreal.”
While visibly emotional, Thompson said the family chose to announce Cardwell’s death soon after her passing because they did not want anyone else to release the news first. Thompson said Cardwell wanted a steak before she died, and though she and her sister Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird had purchased one, Cardwell did not eat the beef in the end.
“We were all just sitting there talking, and she took her last breath,” Thompson said, holding back tears.
“I’m just excited and glad that she did wait until I got back from Colorado.”
In September, Thompson enrolled as a student at Regis University in Denver.
“I’m excited that she’s at least seen me get through my first semester of college. I really wish she would have seen me graduate, but that’ll be OK because she’s going to be watching over me.”
Thompson said she is going to take a break from social media.
Cardwell and her family starred in the hit TLC show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo from 2012 to 2014. The series followed Thompson and her family members through their day-to-day life in McIntyre, Ga. The show came as a spin-off after Thompson won hearts when she appeared on Toddlers & Tiaras as a child beauty pageant queen.
Cardwell leaves behind her family, her husband Eldridge Toney and her two children, Kaitlyn Elizabeth and Kylee Madison.
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