British mum, 41, announces her own death in heartbreaking video

Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.

A brave mum who battled a rare form of cancer for three years shared a poignant pre-recorded video on social media announcing her own passing.

Charlie Anderson-Read passed away on Saturday (10 October) morning, with her loved ones saying she 'is now at peace' after fighting the disease since November 2023.

Weeks before her death, the 41-year-old filmed an emotional video bidding her thousands of supporters one final goodbye and describing how she was 'forever grateful' for those who have followed her journey.

Charlie, who is survived by her wife Louise and their four-year-old daughter Florence, was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer at the age of 38.

She was later re-diagnosed with terminal cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of bile duct cancer. The Brit began documenting her experience online as she underwent gruelling treatment, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and multiple targeted therapies, including a trial.

Charlie was given just six weeks to live - but incredibly managed to battle on for three years, before she passed away over the weekend.

She described her journey as both 'exhausting and emotionally challenging' in a fundraiser, adding: "It’s been a rollercoaster, but one I’ve been grateful for. Although at the time I knew I didn’t have long, I didn’t want to give up."

Sadly, Charlie ultimately exhausted all of her treatment options and instead had to focus on 'keeping comfortable until the time comes'. She admitted that it was 'getting harder each day' in an update on the page.

On her Instagram account @mummy_againstcancer, she acquired an army of loyal followers after courageously sharing candid posts about her ailing health.

An update shared to social media by her wife Louise on 29 September explained Charlie was 'very near the end' and was spending her final days at home. She sadly died less than two weeks later.

Charlie's final post

Charlie shared a video message with the more than 52,000 people who had followed her journey on the platform.

The late content creator said: "Hi everybody. If you are watching this video I am unfortunately no longer here. No, I haven’t kind of posted it from a different world. Someone has kindly posted this on my behalf, so thank you.

"I just wanted to say thank you to all of you guys. All of your messages and kind words have really helped me through what’s been a very difficult time.

"A lot of you have donated money to help out Louise and Florence for when I am no longer here, and for that, I’ll be forever grateful. I hope through this being such a terrible situation for me, I hope that some of these videos have helped out at least some people.

"And through this whole ordeal, I have only come across people being kind to me, generous to me and it’s just shown me how much good there is in the world," Charlie continued. "I hope you guys can see it all now."

She described dealing with a terminal illness as 'absolutely awful', adding: "I can only imagine what it’s been like for my friends and family and to people that have never met me, how hard it’s been to watch my journey.

"There's so much I want to say, but the words...I guess I just can't find them. But I’m so grateful for the life that I’ve led. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever.

"The only thing is I wish I’d stayed with my family for longer and seen Florence grow up. There are things like that that I wish I was here for, many thing I’ll miss.

"But there’s so much that I’ve experienced and I’ve been so lucky to have these extra two and a half years, in fact, maybe a bit longer than that. And for that I'm eternally grateful."

Charlie praised those who had been a part of the 'lovely community' she had built online since 2023, before sharing heartbreakingly signing off her final video.

"So, for the last time, take care everybody," she said. "I wish you all well. Keep fighting - don’t let my passing have any negative effect on people, or on you. Keep fighting, you’ve got this."

Thousands of people shared their condolences underneath the post and paid tribute to the mum, with one saying she was 'so gracious right to the very last word'.

Others dubbed her an 'inspiration' and thanked her for being so open about her cancer journey, while offering their sympathies to Louise, Florence and her wider family.

The clip was captioned: "Cancer: My final words. A video I wish, hadn’t been posted. Thank you for being the best followers I could ask for."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.