A 10-year-old TikTok star known as Bella Brave died July 14, her family said.
Bella, born Isabella Thomson, had more than 7 million followers on the app. Her mother, Kyla Thomson, confirmed Bella’s death on social media July 15.
“Our brave girl left her legacy here on earth to dance on streets of gold,” she wrote in the caption of an Instagram post. “Bella passed peacefully in our arms. Please keep her name on your lips, her memories alive and her bravery in your hearts.”
Thomson also posted a TikTok of Bella dancing in a purple dress to “Never Enough” by Loren Allred from “The Greatest Showman.”
“Please share with us every detail of how she touched your life or kept you brave,” Thompson added in the caption. “Bella would want you to remember; God is love, be brave and you are never too old to bring a stuffy.”
The day of Bella’s death, her mother posted an update on Instagram, writing: “Everything feels numb, as if my mind is shielding me from the overwhelming fear of losing my child. Despite the odds, I hold on to hope.”
Just a week earlier, Bella had been placed in a medically induced coma on July 10 after experiencing complications from a lung infection, her mother wrote in an Instagram post.
Before she was placed in the coma, she had been intubated in the ICU on July 9, her mother said.
Bella’s supporters left messages remembering the 10-year-old in the comments of her latest TikTok:
- I too came for an update and now left crying my eyes out. This is heartbreaking. We are all for the better in knowing Bella Brave. May she rest in eternal peace 🕊️
- Quietly I’ve followed this account and watched her live her best life and not complain once…….. this is heartbreaking 💔😢 I am so very sorry to hear this news. She is a true hero…… 🙌👼
- So sad to hear of her passing 😢 She was so beautiful and funny. I have only folder for the last few months but she always put a smile on my face when I was having a bad day. Fly high Bella Brave 🕊
- This broke me to pieces. Rest in peace, Bella, prayers to you all 💖
- I’m actually going to sob. Rest in peace Bella Brave❤️🩹🕊️
Bella was born with three rare medical conditions: dwarfism, a bowel disease called Hirschsprung disease and severe combined immunodeficiency, which effects the immune system, according to Canadian radio station CJME.
“All three are very rare, but to have them all together is also unheard of,” Thomson told CJME.
In 2020, Bella was placed on a list to get a bowel transplant, and she received the transplant at SickKids Hospital in Toronto in 2023.
Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds visited Bella after her transplant, and several of the videos went viral. One video of Reynolds sitting on the floor next to her hospital bed received 3 million likes.
Before her death, Bella described what she thought heaven would be like to People: “Heaven has a lot of clouds, a big castle built of clouds. God would be there.”
