One family is grieving a heartbreaking loss.
Joules Smith, a young girl who turned her diagnosis of a terminal brain tumor into an opportunity to fundraise through the joy of dance, has died. She was 6 years old.
“Unfortunately, in the early hours of Monday morning [Dec. 9],” her dad Joe Smith said in a Dec. 11 Instagram video, “our beautiful little dancing queen passed away in between me and [my wife] Elisha in our bed.”
Joules—who, earlier this year, was diagnosed with inoperable diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a brain tumor found in the brain stem, according the DIPG.org—had taken her illness as a chance to spread joy and awareness of her specific type of cancer, amassing millions of views and thousands of fans on TikTok and Instagram with her “Dance for Joules” videos.
“Joules has been an absolute inspiration to everyone and I am so proud to be her dad, as is Elisha, her mum,” Joe continued. “We take so much comfort in knowing that she inspired and touched the lives of so many people from around the world.”
